Royal Blunders
by Authoress Tams
Summary: There's more to learn than royal protocol when Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis are knighted into Seyruun's Royal Court! Forget dinner etiquette. The Slayers are about to have a lesson they'll never forget. Rated PG for language. AZ, some LG. - OLD, COMPLETE -
1. Justice Is My Reward! Ok, Maybe Not

(**AN**: This is the redone first chapter, because the clicheness was really bothering me. Everything is WAY different, so I hope you don't mind.

( ) = Might be kinda confusing, but these are both narration comments and my comments. I think you'll be able to distinguish which is which, though.)

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Royal Blunders

Chapter One: Justice Is My Reward—Ok, Maybe Not

It was a common scene; the Slayers had stumbled onto another bandit gang trying to hide out in the woods, and obviously, Lina took the initiative to bring them to justice. At least in Amelia's eyes—according to Lina, this gang was the richest one she'd encountered all day. 

And so, without any pretense, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia had been drafted into another war against the bandits, rushing in and unleashing their attacks onto the enraged bandits as if by routine (which it practically was).

Unfortunately, one of the bandits was smarter than he looked (and you didn't come across this situation very often), and had snatched Amelia right in the middle of a particularly sleep-inducing Justice speech, and before you could say "Ra Tilt" (a little crappy authoress' humor, there), she was at the back of the bandit's hideout, chained to a wooden 'X'. This was an uncomfortable situation, watching her friends fighting off the sea of criminals and not being able to do anything.

Amelia realized that since every single spell she tried to free herself must have been blocked—the chains were magic themselves, and repelled every spell set against them. (Meaning Amelia accidentally fried herself numerous times trying to be freed.) Feeling very helpless and crispy, she looked on biting her lip as the battle raged on.

Zelgadis happened to glance around for a split second before running into another horde of attackers, and noticed Amelia tied jauntily to the crossed poles. Since Lina was occupied at the moment, ("FIREBALL! FIREBALL!") he had no choice but to save her himself. "Great…more problems is what we need," he murmured, dashing through the crowd of bandits at his brau demon speed. When he arrived at the 'X', his path was cut short by the bandit who had snatched Amelia, darting in front of him with his sword upraised.

"Oh, no you don't," he cried in a whiny voice, raven-black hair drifting across the sides of his face in a rather ugly style, his sword held diagonally in front of him and aimed at Zelgadis. "_No one_ can defeat the wrath of _Vern, the Red Bandit King_!!" He laughed maniacally, his fingers twitching.

Zelgadis blinked. "Your name is Vern?"

Vern stopped to scratch his head. "Well, my mother, gods bless the old lady, wanted to name me after her father's uncle's nephew's grandfather's brother, Vernon Archadid Moronus, a very great bandit indeed!" Vern beamed, polishing his sword idly on his cloak. "He was a delightful lad, yes he was!"

"That's great to know…" Zelgadis had a lot trouble stifling a wide smirk. "I can see how he got his last name."

"Why, thank you—HEY!" Vern composed himself and got into a battle stance again. "You will pay for further angering me, the great and widely respected Vern!" Without hesitance he slashed at Zelgadis' stomach, jumping backwards with his hands on his hips. "Let's see you live through _that_ one, you ignorant fool!"

"If I'm a fool, I'm a fool with a stone gut," answered Zelgadis calmly, tapping his stomach, where the cloth of his short had been torn open, but the skin was unpierced. Vern blinked, his mouth gaping wide open. "You're a….you're…"

"A pissed off swordsman," finished Zelgadis for him, striking with his sword accompanied by a quickly cast Astral Vine. He blinked, cocking his head in mock sympathy. "I'm sorry…you didn't get to say goodbye to your moronic great great—oh, forget it." He sighed shortly and stepped over Vern's limp body, chopping at the manacles on the ecstatic Amelia's wrists.

Meanwhile, only meters away, Lina and Gourry pitted themselves against wave after wave of bandits; Lina throwing Fireball after Fireball in different directions, Gourry hacking openly at the bandits' guts, leaving quite a mess. "Flare Arrow! Fireball!" Lina's hands were constantly in movement. On her left, Gourry struck twice as many times with his sword, leaving many bandits armless.

"How—are—you—holding—up—Lina?" asked Gourry, slashing in between words, in unfailing concentration that was only sometimes broken by having to dodge the other swords swinging his way.

Lina didn't stop to look at him as she backed up near the swordsman, both of them being surrounded by the encircling bandits. "How does it _look_ like I'm doing, Gourry?" She gave him an annoyed look and glared down the rest of the bandits heading their way. "What do you propose we do, Jellyfish-Brains?"

Gourry readied his stance and glanced at Lina from over his shoulder. "Well, what we could do is try attacking at the same time; you with your big magic, and me with my sword. We'll do a countdown, okay? You do it, though. I can't remember the numbers."

Lina rolled her eyes and began counting, gritting her teeth. "One…two…three….oh, screw the countdown, _darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows_…"

"Gah!!" cried Gourry, stumbling backwards through the line of bandits towards the mound where Zelgadis had just hacked off the last shackle, and stopped to rest his hands on his knees, panting. "Zel!! Big bad spell! It's the Digger Slack….uh…the Dorky Shrug…..the—"

Zelgadis merely blinked as a large sweatdrop rolled down his forehead. "Just say it, Gourry."

Gourry scratched his head. "Uh…..bandits go boom?" He gave Zel a sheepish grin as he stood up straight and caught his breath.

Zel rolled his eyes. "You need to specify which type of death they're going to suffer. Crispy, well-done, or burnt to a crisp?" he sighed, folding his arms across his chest.

"Burnt to a crisp," answered Gourry at once, nodding.

"Right, the Dragon Slave." Zel yanked Amelia by her wrists, pulling her upwards (she, by then, had gone limp from exhaustion of trying to free herself), and carried her after Gourry, who ran like a madman for the sheltered woods, and practically dove into a nearby clump of bushes, covering his head.

"_Buried in the flow of time; in Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness!_ "

Finally, panting with fatigue, save the unconscious Amelia, the two swordsmen rested behind the bush clump and watched the chaos about to unfold from afar.

The bandits (the stupidest ones) were watching Lina with great interest, having never seen magic before, but those who had witnessed such spells had the common sense to begin running very fast.

"_Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!!_"

Of course, they couldn't outrun Lina with a big spell in her hands. She held it above her head, prepared to strike, the Black spell writhing with crackling thunder.

"…._DRAGON SLAVE!!_"

The sound was tumultuous; the blast of the spell's impact on the earth along with simultaneous shrieks of pain from the burnt up bandits created one _big_ bang. As soon as the momentum was over, Lina surveyed her handiwork with great pride, flashing a v-sign at Zelgadis and Gourry, coming out from behind the bushes. 

"And the great and beautiful sorcery genius strikes again!! Da da da dum da dum!!" Lina shouted out a trumpet-like fanfare as she went around the crisp-friend field. Amelia, who had by then come to, gave Zelgadis an inquisitive glance as she watched Lina dancing amongst the strewn bodies of bandits (quite a disturbing scene if you hadn't seen it before).

"What happened, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis set her down on the grass and shook his head. "Dragon Slave."

"Oh, right," she said, standing up and dusting herself off and making sure Zelgadis was unhurt. "Are you alright, Zelgadis-san? I know that bandit leader attacked you…" She looked him up and down meticulously. 

"I'm fine, Amelia."

"Are you sure?" She cast a sideways glance at him. "I don't know, he seemed half-crazy, wanting revenge against my daddy…"

Zelgadis blinked. "Revenge?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!! He was planning on holding me for ransom! He told me while he was tying me up. But you guys saved me and not only that, you protected the honor and stability of Seyruun!"

"Amelia…" Zelgadis was hovering between an extreme of exasperation and appreciation, both strangely accented by a rather large sweatdrop, but Amelia chose to ignore that, or just plain didn't notice. "You should be rewarded!"

"I really don't think that's necessary—" began Zelgadis, exasperation beginning to take over that side of appreciation, until Lina approached them with a wide, triumphant grin crossing her face.

"We did it!! Well, actually, I did it. You all helped this time around." She clasped her hands, rubbing them together in a slightly menacing way. "Alright! So, where's the gold?" She peered around in different directions until Zelgadis tapped her on the shoulder.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't bandits keep their gold in their pockets?"

"Yeah, so?" Lina's eyes glittered in anticipation. "So what? I wanna get my gold!"

"Well, the bandits here are no exception to that rule. You just sent them all flying into the sky, or headfirst into the ground, along with their gold."

Lina's mouth dropped open as Zelgadis continued.

"And even if the gold did survive being blown out of this world, it's been melted by the heat and power that comes along with the Dragon Slave," he explained calmly as Lina's ears began issuing forth steam and her face burned as red as her crimson eyes. Amelia bit back her lip and Gourry proceeded to take a step behind Zel as Lina began to vent.

"I WENT…..THROUGH ALL OF THAT….FOR NOTHING?!"

"Not technically for nothing, Lina-san!" piped up Amelia. "I was just telling Zelgadis-san that you all ought to be rewarded, for rescuing me from an evil bandit's clutches and protecting the—"

"Honor and stability of Seyruun," finished Zelgadis, his eyes dropping in disbelief. "She wants to have us rewarded."

"Oh, _really_?" asked Lina interestedly, the red hue disappearing from her face as a look of unfathomable glee replaced it. 'What _kind_ of reward, Amelia dear?" she asked, gazing unfailingly at Amelia.

Zelgadis and Gourry both fell over at the strangeness of this gesture, but Amelia peered up at the sky thoughtfully. 'Well, let's see…there's always a very large sum of money, but I'm not sure if we can sacrifice that much for a reward just yet, since you've used it for eating…oh, but there is one possibility!"

"And that would _be_?" asked Lina impatiently, leaning up in Amelia's face. Amelia chuckled nervously and took a few steps backwards. "Knighthood, I suppose."

Lina merely blinked. "And what would knighthood possibly have to do with gold?"

"You _get_ lots of it, Lina-san! People that are knighted in the name of Seyruun's Royal Family are entitled to the wealth _of_ the Royal Family!" She smiled, enheartened. "You also get to live in the palace, with me and daddy! You can learn Royal protocol, learn Royal dances, eat from Royal banquets—"

"Food _and_ gold in one?!" said Lina, her voice barely higher than a whisper in her ecstatic state. "Not to mention the well-earned respect of Seyruun?"

Amelia nodded again.

"Not that I really care more about respect that food or gold…actually…I'm not sure which one is best—Gourry!!" she shouted, pulling the swordsman up from the ground by his ear. 

"Ow ow ow ow ow!! _What_, Lina?" asked poor Gourry, held up straight only by his earlobe as he struggled to stand, with Zelgadis clambering up to the normal height of gravity.

Lina gave him a malicious smile, one that could only suggest that she had things in mind that had to do with money. "We're gonna be RICH!"

(Yay! I redid it! I think it's slightly better, don't you think? I hope so! Now, be good and go review, because it will inspire me even more on my big old inspiration spree/trip thingy!~*~Tams~*~)


	2. The World as We Know It Has Come To An E...

(AN: Well, yep! I redid the second chapter two! I feel so inspired, I thought I should fix up this previously old and bad fic and make it all prettily-funny for you! So I am! ^_^ ~*~Tams~*~

( ) = "Me" comments, again. )

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Royal Blunders

Chapter Two: The World As We Know It Is Coming To An End

  
Zelgadis peered out of the red curtain they were hiding behind, and dropped it again. He was dressed in a tux, his wirey hair combed as much as possible by the royal hairdresser, but with little luck. There were still pieces of comb stuck here and there, but mostly concealed by liberal amounts of hairgel.   
  
Gourry was sitting behind him in a poofy chair, staring absentmindedly at the ceiling, drumming his fingernails on the chair's arm. "Zel, do we have to wait? I'm hungry!" He looked at a bowl of wax fruit beside him, and his stomach let out a loud growl as he stared at it hopefully.   
  
"You're always hungry," Zelgadis answered dully, still peering out of the curtain. He was searching for Amelia, but the large group of guards outside the curtain made that slightly impossible. He let out a plaintive sigh and leaned backwards in the squishy scarlet chair next to Gourry, who was slowly allowing himself to slip into deep-set statue mode as he gazed at the bowl.  
  
"I wonder if the staff managed to tame Lina into a dress," remarked Zelgadis, his hands cupped around a mug of coffee. (Yes, even when he's about to become a member of Seyruun's Royalty, he drinks his coffee nonstop. *scoff*) "I wouldn't be even a little surprised if every one of them came out of it toasted."  
  
"If they did, it's probably a skort," said Gourry, gazing sadly at the bowl of wax fruit, and wearing a hypnotized look as his fingers inched slowly towards the bowl. Zelgadis was about to both question the mention of a skort and stop Gourry from digesting something previously known as unedible when there was a rustling noise at the door, to which they both looked.   
  
Lina stood in the doorway, not in her traveling apparel, but in a ball gown. She wore a gown of a pale, pearly lavender color that shimmered in the light creeping in from the curtain, and had gloves of the same color and silken, pearly material on, stretching to her elbows. A ring was on each middle and ring fingers, and the straps of the dress were slightly thick, just enough to almost hang off her shoulders. She wore a thin string of pearls across her bare neck, and earrings, also pearls, hung in place of her bulky sorceress' earrings.  
  
The most surprising part, besides the whole dress bit, may have been her hair, which was not hanging wildly about her waist, but was twisted into a silken knot at the back of her head very elegantly. Someone had dabbed a bit of eye color on her eyelids to match, and although Lina's new attire was astounding, her expression was nothing except grumpy, with her crimson eyes narrowed.  
  
Zelgadis suddenly realized he had dropped his coffee, and looked at his pants, soaking a stain into them. "Crap…"   
  
"Well?" asked Lina, folding her arms and glaring irritably at both of them, as though daring them to say anything less than positive about her outfit, which no one could doubt that she was.   
  
Gourry looked Lina up and down for a minute and concurred, "Hey have you seen Lina Inverse around?"  
  
His question was answered, in the form of a hard fist crashing down on the top of his head. "I AM LINA, YOU BIG JELLYFISH-FOR-BRAINS!" she shrieked, loud enough to make the ballroom go silent. Zelgadis was still trying to wipe off the stain on his pants when an usher appeared at his side.  
  
"Sirs and …" he took a brief glance at Lina whacking Gourry on the head, and cleared his throat, "And…Madame…You will now enter the ballroom in an elegant fashion to be Knighted." This announcement was accompanied by a questioning look at Lina before he turned on heel and swept through the curtain.  
  
Lina stopped, leaving several bumps on Gourry's head. "Now?" She composed herself and pulled Gourry to his feet by yanking on his hair. "C'mon, Gourry! We can't sit down now!" 

His response was a mumbled "Unnhh.." Lina glanced down at her hand and said something that was halfway Lina-like and halfway disturbing (being that this was Lina, anyway); "Damnit…I broke a nail."

In the Ballroom just outside the velvet curtain, the buzz of droning chatter was at its peak. Prince Philionel was seated at a modest throne, adorned with Seyruun's Royal seal, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest as he waited for the arrival of the new lords and lady. He nodded quietly, a wide grin on his face, to the twitchy squire standing at his side. The squire shook his head in response and darted up the stairs, a small, scrawny lad of twelve, running to signal to the usher.  
  
After the usher had responded that they were ready, the young squire staggered to a prompt position, inhaling deeply. 

"May I present," he began in a clear voice that was surprising, coming from such a scrawny kid, "Miss Lina Inverse, Mister Gourry Gabriev, and Mister Zelgadis Graywords." He stepped aside with a surprisingly well-balanced flourish and retreated to the side hall. The crowd gasped at the sight of the three afore-mentioned. 

With Gourry at her left, and Zelgadis on her right, Lina made her way down the stairs as elegantly and composedly as she possibly could, which was considerably hard, considering the height of her new heels. She was an almost astounding sight in her ball gown, and looking quite the contrary to what the regular palace snobs were used to seeing every now and then when she popped in for a visit. A great number of the young lords and dukes watched her scale the steps with intense interest, whispering attentively to each other. With the two dashing-looking nobles-to-be flanking her right and left, Lina felt very significant indeed, displaying her satisfaction with her head held high and her newfound elegance flaunted.   
  
Gourry received a similar reaction from the young women in the royal audience; the debutantes, ladies-in-waiting, and princesses from other various counties were twittering quietly to each other and flashing Gourry flirtatious smiles and secretive glances from behind their fans. He perceived this as normal behavior for Royal women, and luckily didn't wave back as he concentrated on not tripping over his feet in this crinkled new outfit they'd fixed him up in.

Zelgadis was his usual rigid self, trapped in a room full of the people most likely to judge him at first sight, or at least, in his opinion. The last thing he'd expected was to end up in their presence—permanently, or at least until this knighthood thing had reached its limit….if it had one. He walked stiffly down the steps, staring straight ahead as he tried to avoid the darting eyes of royalty, his fingers twitching slightly, as though aching to pull up his hood that was currently in absentia from his neck. He needn't have wanted that; the very same mob of women was eyeing him eagerly, attracted to the curious-looking visage of this mysterious man.  
  
When all of them had reached the bottom, Phil, unsheathing a thin but polished, silver-hilted sword, walked forward to greet them, and the four of them bowed, Lina somewhat quickly, Zelgadis somewhat jauntily, and Gourry in his usually blundering way, though there was nothing less than an adoring sigh from the ladies-in-waiting. As Zelgadis brought himself back up, he caught a glimpse of Amelia's happy face, and she waved excitedly to him, but then the glimpse was cut off by Phil's bulky shoulders rising up again.  
  
"Kneel, Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis," commanded Phil solemnly. Zelgadis and Gourry sat on bended knee while Lina settled on both of her knees, her skirt spread out elegantly on the floor. Each Slayer bended their head in respectful reverie as Phil raised the silver blade to just above Lina's shoulder.   
  
"I, Prince Philoniel el di Seyruun, do hereby proclaim Lina Inverse, Zelgadis Graywords, and Gourry Gabriev to be knighted and commended into the Royal Court of Seyruun." He tapped both of Lina's shoulder lightly with the blade as he said the oath, and Lina remained still, her concentration focused on the silence.  
  
"Arise, Lady Lina Inverse." A round of modest but somehow deafening clapping (Maybe this was because of the large gathering of people in the Ballroom) followed shortly after this, including some whistles lost in the din of applause. Lina arose to face Phil, curtsying quickly, as though her reputation would be dimmed, should she act formal for so long, and hurried behind the two men, her hands cupped in the folds of her dress.  
  
Phil was now facing Gourry. "Kneel Gourry Gabriev…" he said in the same focused but gentle voice, and Gourry did so, again in his own blundering fashion, but managed to stay on one knee. Another sequence of the blade tapping, and Gourry stood jauntily, as Phil announced, "Arise, Sir Gourry Gabriev." More sighs from the ladies erupted, and Gourry walked over to Lina, looking proud of himself.  
  
Zelgadis was last, and knelt before the prince. He felt the blade touch his shoulder briefly and looked up. "Arise, Sir Zelgadis Graywords." The ballroom erupted into a frenzy of sighs (from the ladies), whistles (from the men), and polite clapping (from the elder residents of the Court who couldn't really bother to care), as the three of them bowed to Phil. 

Immediately, Lina and Gourry were shuffled off to the side, where they were promptly introduced to nearly every lady-in-waiting and duke or lord there was in the Ballroom. Zelgadis, meanwhile, had escaped the rush to try and find the only person he could really talk to at this dance; Amelia. He managed to make it over to the throne, where'd he'd last seen her, and as he looked around, he heard her voice behind him. "Zelgadis-san, over here!" He turned around to see her.  
  
Amelia was stunning. She was donned in a shimmering pink gown that fit her shape as though she were born to wear it. It wasn't tight, but fit her waist snugly and spread out to a flowing, sparkling wave of what looked lie tiny diamonds. The straps were slightly thick, but not too much, and hung elegantly below her shoulders, like Lina's, and she wore a gold chain with glittering emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and sapphires hanging from it. Her earrings matched the necklace, and a tiara, made of gold and small, but stunning diamonds was perched atop her head. Her hair had been expertly styled into a pile of twisted curls behind the tiara, and her eyes shone as brightly as any of her jewels.

She waved her gloved hand frantically to catch his attention (as if _that_ was really needed at that point.) and hustled over to where he stood, his feet rooted to the ground, and she clasped his hands together, standing up on her tiptoes. "Zelgadis-san," she began, "You look _wonderful_! See, I told you you'd look nice in a tux! Don't you think?"

Zelgadis blinked, recovering, and then shifting subconsciously into his natural, cross-armed, indifferent position. "I guess so."

Amelia giggled lightheartedly. "Zelgadis-san, you need to give yourself more credit sometimes. Now, come on, I'll show you how to dance!"

Zelgadis blinked. "What?" He looked around quickly, as though Lina or Gourry could come up at that second to save him from any possible predicament, but (and this surprised him) they were already out on the dance floor, waltzing away as though it were no trouble at all. (Although it did look slightly unsettled; Lina was poking Gourry in the chest and chastising him for stepping on her feet.)

He looked back at Amelia, eagerly nodding her head.

"Dance! I know you'll be taught how to dance later on, but wouldn't you feel better if I showed you first?" Amelia's expression was earnest, and Zelgadis couldn't help but cave at her unblinking gaze. 

"Fine…" he said slowly. "Lead the way." An unsettling feeling of doom (a.k.a. utter embarrassment) made his stomach drop as Amelia grabbed his arm and led him out to the middle of the dance floor.

As they stopped on the emblem etched into the marble floor, Amelia pulled both of his hands upwards. "This is informal dancing. You just keep both of your hands up. I—" She rested one arm on his shoulder and clasped his right hand with the other—" Do this. Now, we're all set, okay?"

Zelgadis nodded quickly. "Uh, sure."

"Good! Now, try back and forth, sort of fast, but not too fast." She began moving in time to the music, watching Zelgadis' feet. He was watching his own feet carefully, moving awkwardly and off-balance. Amelia giggled quietly and stopped him.

"Here, watch me for a second." She took a step back and began moving back and forth again to show him clearly. He watched blankly. How did she make it look so _easy_? 

She twirled around to face him, her dress swishing quietly around her feet. She threw out her hands. "See? It's very simple, Zelgadis-san! Now, you try with me!" She took hold of his hands once again and stood in place, waiting for him to begin.

He murmured under his breath for a second, staring at his feet, until he swallowed hard, straightened up, and began to dance as Amelia had. Back and forth until he was able to move side to side without tripping, slowly but surely. His mouth began to crease upwards, showing a remnant of a smile. He was just the tiniest bit proud of himself when he managed to whirl Amelia around without any faults.

Amelia clapped as the waltz music began to fade into the background of friendly chatter. "You did it, Zelgadis-san! You did perfectly, I knew you would, once you had a little direction!" She folded her hands and smiled up at him. "Would you like to try a faster dance? I think you're good enough."

Zelgadis managed to capture a look of surprise, indifference, and contentment at the same time, as he took her hands once again.. "Sure." His smile widened even more. But just a little.

  
  
(Okay, it's redone and not so cliché! Yay! I can not feel guilty now!! ^____^

I'll be making sure RB is totally pretty and nice-looking for you. By that, I mean words in italics and bold print and labeling, and all that spiffy stuff we like in a good fic.

Also, there will be song quotes at the top of each chapter to fit the setting starting with chapter four…because I'd like something to show the mood of the chapter, because it gets deeper and the characters' feelings are examined. Just so you know. ^^ ~*~Tams~*~)


	3. Sir Recburg Versus The Slayers Round One

(**AN**: Yep! Here's chapter three of RB all fixed up for you! I didn't really have to do that much here, though. ~*~Tams~*~)

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Royal Blunders

Chapter Three: Sir Recburg Versus The Slayers, Round One!

Amelia yawned. It was around 5:34 when the young princess awoke from an impatient slumber, and slipped into a pair of fluffy pink slippers. For an unknown reason, she stumbled into the hall and, being half-asleep, pushed open the nearest door, searching for her closet.  
  
But oddly enough, when she opened her eyes and yawned softly, she found herself in Zelgadis's room.  
  
She panicked, thinking she had awakened him, but the chimera remained still. Amelia was angry at herself for intruding on him, and wondered who had put Zelgadis in the room across from hers, when she could easily walk in there without a clear head instead of her closet?  
  
_Oh yeah_, she thought. _I did._  
  
She sighed quietly, and remembering how early she was supposed to wake up, she decided Zelgadis should get up as well and escape the morning horn. It being their first day into their royal training, some sympathy was to be expected on the behalf of the princess. She tiptoed over to his bed, still feeling a bit chagrined, when Zelgadis turned over in his sleep.  
  
He held something very small, clutched in the palm of his hand, and Amelia noticed that it was a miniature doll, one she had frequently heard called a "plushie". She looked closer.....it had green boots.....a white cape...and strangely familiar black hair-  
  
"Ame....lia?" . Amelia jumped, stumbling backwards with an "Ahh!". Zelgadis was awake, and rubbing his eyes sleepily, his feet swinging over the side of the bed as the blushing princess twiddled her thumbs and stared at the floor.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Zelgadis-san, I was going to try and wake you up so you wouldn't be bothered by the horn, and-"  
  
"No it's o....o.....okay..." yawned Zelgadis, his hand released on the plushie. Before she glanced at it again, Amelia inquired, "What plushie is that, Zelgadis-san? I didn't know you had one."  
  
Zelgadis's face wore, for a split second, an expression of confusion before turning into a red-faced panic, and he stuffed the plushie hastily under his pillow and looked at the floor rather sheepishly, his face flushing hot for a moment. "It's nothing…found it on the floor…must belong to the maids. So, what time is it?"  
  
Amelia blinked, puzzled, before she leaned back on the balls of her feet calmly. "It's a quarter 'till six…you still have a few minutes before the morning horn, but I thought I should wake you up so you wouldn't be startled. I'm sorry, Zelgadis-san…" Her wide blue eyes were still brimming with chagrin.  
  
"It's really alright, Amelia," said Zelgadis, a half-grin forming on his face so Amelia smiled as well, though her own was a brief one, owing to the fact that she had just remembered something that could entitle her to a lot of blushing and awkward questions. Then Zelgadis arose from the bed, still in his traveling apparel for lack of a larger wardrobe, and headed towards the closet behind Amelia.  
  
As he walked by Amelia, she turned quickly the opposite way and faced him. "Uh...Zelgadis-san, do you need to know where to go for breakfast?" She took a few steps back to ensure that he wasn't seeing her back.  
  
Zelgadis walked out of the closet, his arms folded as his eyes darted around, looking for his clothes. "No thanks, I think I remember.... downstairs, left corridor, third door on the right, am I correct?"  
  
He walked back to the bed swiftly, and Amelia made a sharp swerve with her back now to the closet. Zelgadis scratched the back of his head as Amelia smiled sheepishly, swaying back and forth. "Um....right, Zelgadis-san. Are you sure you didn't need anything else?"  
  
He nodded and began walking towards the dresser drawer behind Amelia, and Amelia turned quickly and backed up against the closet door. He gave her a look and watched her as she once again spun in a circle as he passed. Her eyes were now swirling with self-induced dizziness.  
  
"Amelia, are you alright?" he asked, folding his cloak and watching her with a raised eyebrow and thoughtful frown. Amelia nodded, her hair bouncing up and down. "Just...excited, Zelgadis-san."  
  
Zelgadis shrugged to himself and turned his back. "I'll see you at breakfast then...." He sat down, back to Amelia, and began to search through his bag. Amelia walked backwards towards the door, opened it clumsily with a backwards hand, and closed it quickly as Zelgadis turned to watch her again. He shook his head out of pure puzzlement and went back to folding, murmuring, "She needs to stop eating so much sugar."  
  
Amelia let an enormous sigh of relief as she scampered into her room, and once inside, she locked the door to change. After she was safely inside, she tossed aside her pajama shirt. On the back was a messy-looking picture of Zelgadis, and underneath the picture was this, scrawled in loopy writing: _Zelgadis-san Is Cool!_

  
  
~*~(^^;; I _had_ to do it.)~*~

  
  
An hour later, Amelia walked into a decorated room, waiting for the others to finish their breakfasts. Zelgadis was already sitting in the same room, checking the clock.  
  
"Aren't they done yet?" he asked quietly, rolling his eyes. Amelia shrugged. Her morning dress ruffled as she peeked through the door.  
  
"No, Zelgadis-san....wait, they're coming in!" She backed up and looked happily at the door, where Gourry and Lina came in, rubbing their stomachs.  
  
"Mmm! Great stuff, Amelia, I hope it's the same tonight! " said Lina, sitting contentedly in a chair.  
  
"Yeah!" piped up Gourry. "But I think Phil was kinda scared...'specially when I ate the turkey whole..."  
  
Lina continued. "Except I really didn't wanna wake up by hearing some stupid, loud horn....weren't you tired, Zel?"  
  
Zelgadis answered nonchalantly. "No, I got an early wake-up—"   
  
"By who?" asked Lina, grinning maliciously, and Zelgadis sat up, realizing what he said. " .....The butler came and told me I should, uh, wake up early." He crossed his arms and glasred at her, wearing an expression that dared her to inquire more. Lina smiled innocently. (*snort*)  
  
Amelia felt a rose colored blush coming onto her cheeks, but stood up when an elderly looking man entered the room, standing up straight as said butler.  
  
"Please sit," he said with a regal air. Amelia and Gourry sat down.  
  
"Your royal training begins now, Sirs Gourry Gabriev and Zelgadis Graywords and Lady Lina." Lina perked up, looking extremely important. Gourry played with a string that was wearing out of the armrest. Zelgadis watched the man curiously.  
  
"Princess, you may remain to oversee their sessions if you wish," said the man, and Amelia nodded solemnly, her smile reduced to a business-like frown.  
  
"Now, I am Sir Recburg. I am here to instruct you three in lessons of learning manner, grace, and poise." Sir Recburg's large, curling mustache quivered. "To be a member of the Royal Court, you must know the proper traditions and history of our fair city." He emphasized "proper" and stood, if possible, even straighter, indicating that no one should question the proper ways of Seyruun Royal Court.  
  
Gourry looked completely dumbfounded. "Um...what's poise?"  
  
Sir Recburg opened one drooping eyelid. He surveyed Gourry's dazed expression and drew himself up. "Lesson one. Do not interrupt any person of the Court when he or she is in the process of speaking."  
  
His mustache quivered again, and Gourry leaned back, seeming to catch the drift. Zelgadis and Lina both raised an eyebrow, but Amelia could hardly seem to stand the tension. Sir Recburg shook off the momentary discomfort and peered around at them.  
  
"Now. Your first official lesson is dining manners."  
  
Lina and Gourry both perked up at this.  
  
"To the Dining Room, if you please."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Soon they all sat at the large table. Sir Recburg sat himself down, his back as straight as a board. Amelia stood by, grinning widely. They were sure to be good at this.  
  
"Now," repeated Sir Recburg. " We shall began by instructing the order. First-the beginning course."  
  
As if on cue, three waiters, as straight-backed as Sir Recburg himself, set three plates of lavishly decorated salads before the three of them.  
  
Zelgadis remained expressionless, and Lina and Gourry were trying to sit as still as possible. Gourry fidgeted.  
  
"We began with the salad fork."  
  
Each of them stared at the silverware. Three forks, two spoons, and three knives were next to the plate, followed by a few other minor utensils. Gourry scratched his head, Lina grunted in frustration, and Zelgadis looked over at Amelia.  
  
"Start from the outside and work your way in!" she mouthed at him, and he turned back to his plate, picking up the smaller fork. Lina and Gourry did the same, looking impatient and bored.  
  
Sir Recburg didn't even looked pleased in the slightest. "Now, what we do is-"  
  
He stopped, both eyes open and utterly horrified. Lina and Gourry were already digging in, droplets of dressing flicking everywhere.  
  
The gobbling noises seemed to echo throughout the silent hall, making it even more unbearable. Amelia looked somewhat scared, Zelgadis was sweatdropping, and Sir Recburg's mustache was close to falling off, it was quivering so much.  
  
"Pardon me!" he said, clenching his mouth. Lina and Gourry paid him no heed.  
  
"Good stuff!" said Gourry, spewing bits of lettuce forward. Zelgadis looked at him, and had to bite back the laughter.  
  
Sir Recburg's polished face was covered in specks of lettuce, and even Amelia had to giggle. Sir Recburg looked at her furiously.  
  
"Does this not shock you, Princess?!" he said, and Amelia's smile disappeared immediately. 

"I apologize, sir." She looked at the ground, not only in shame, but to hide the grin that was coming back. Another mustache quiver. Sir Recburg cleared his throat and Lina and Gourry paused, bits of food stuck to their faces.  
  
"You are not to start eating until the dinner bell has been rung and you will most certainly not eat like....like that!" stammered Sir Recburg disapprovingly.  
  
Lina crossed her arms after wiping her face. "Calm down, Gramps, we're just hungry."  
  
"You will address me or any member of the court as 'Sir' or 'Lady'. Any such nonsense as the word 'Gramps' will be highly discouraged!" sneered Sir Recburg.  
  
Lina glared, but swallowed her pride and sat back. Gourry wiped his mouth, smiling nervously, and Zelgadis was sitting there, not sure whether to think it was hilarious or disgusting. Amelia was wringing her hands sheepishly—she felt exactly the same as Zelgadis. Sir Recburg cleared his throat and managed to look dignified again.  
  
"Since you are most obviously unfit to learn dining manners from myself"—Lina snorted—"We will practice a proper waltz."  
  
Zelgadis went pink. "Waltz?"  
  
Lina noticed his blush and grinned. "Yeah....as in slow dance."  
  
Zelgadis went even redder and glanced at Amelia, who would have looked positively delighted if it weren't for the blush creeping up her cheeks. Sir Recburg stamped his foot, and everyone turned their attention to him again.  
  
"Yes, Sir Zelgadis....a waltz. You will be paired off with the Princess and Lady Lina and Sir Gourry will be paired off as well. You do not object, Princess?"  
  
He looked at the giddy Amelia, who looked taken aback. "Uh....of course-of course not, S-sir Recburg."  
  
Gourry glanced at the both of them. "But Zel, you and Amelia-"  
  
"PRINCESS Amelia," said Sir Recburg shortly. Gourry scratched his head.  
  
"No, I'm Gourry."  
  
"I just stated that princess Amelia-" began Sir Recburg.  
  
"Yeah, that's Amelia over there," said Gourry, pointing in Amelia's direction.  
  
Sir Recburg was seething. "_Princess_ Amelia! I was directing my statement towards the Princess!" He was pursing his lips as though he ached to shout at them. "_Fine_! We shall have someone else conduct your lessons, other than me!"  
  
Lina walked over to Gourry and bonked him on the head. "You stupid Jellyfish, he meant Amelia!"  
  
"Excuse me, Lady Lina, but there will be no physical pain inducing in the presence of the Princess."  
  
Gourry's head came back up from beneath the table. "Presents? Where??" But he was under the table again with another bop from Lina.  
  
Sir Recburg clutched his face in agony. "Why can you not listen to me?!"  
  
Meanwhile, Zelgadis had retreated to Amelia's side. "Do you think they'll learn anything today?"  
  
Amelia shook her head, sighing. "I think it may take a while, Zelgadis- san...or at least until Gourry-san wakes up." 

(Enh, I didn't like this chapter as much. *shrug* )


	4. Waist? Are You Sure It's The Waist?

(**AN**: Redone chappie! ^^)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Four: Waist? Are You Sure It's the Waist?

  
  
_"I want you to be uneased_

  
I want you to remember

  
I want you to believe in me

  
I want you on my side

  
Come on 

  
Lay it down

  
I've always been with you 

  
Here and now

  
Give all that's within you

  
Be my savior

  
And I'll be your downfall"

~ **Downfall, Matchbox Twenty**

  
  
"Oooh, lookin' good, Zel!" whistled Lina when he came down the carpeted steps in a tuxedo. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Like you haven't seen me in a tux before?"  
  
Lina shrugged, making her slim pink dress rustle. "It's worthwhile to tease you. Besides, I just love watching you squirm whenever you're embarrassed."  
  
Zel raised the other eyebrow. "...Why would I be embarrassed?"  
  
Lina looked around nonchalantly. "Because Amelia is coming down the stairs behind you in an absolutely stunning ball gown." Zel turned around and took a few steps back.  
  
Amelia was again wearing a ball gown-this one, though much simpler, may have been the most gorgeous one yet. It was a light, sky blue made of flowing satin, and the sleeves covered just her shoulders. Her hair wasn't up, and she wore no jewelry, but somehow this made Zelgadis catch his breath for a second before speaking. "Why are you all....dressed up?" He knew he sounded like an idiot-he was dressed up too. Of course she would be.  
  
Amelia laughed, her white, gloved hands covering the giggles. "We're taking dancing lessons, Zelgadis-san! We have to be dressed at least a little formal." Zelgadis scratched the back of his neck.  
  
"We knew how to dance...we were dancing at the ceremony." 

Amelia folded her arms. "Well, that was more informal, actually."  
  
Zelgadis felt his cheeks heat up just a little. "....What do you mean, that was informal?"  
  
Before she could answer, there was a sound of two quick claps at the other side of the room. Sir Recburg was standing there, mustache ever quivering.  
  
In the two weeks they had been there, Lina and Gourry disliked Sir Recburg to a bitter point. Or rather, Lina hated his guts, Gourry just followed along with what she did, Zel stood by shaking his head, and Amelia worried herself sick that they would be punished in some way.  
  
Sir Recburg seemed to hate them, but, given his prudent upbringing and mannerly ways, he proceeded to correct possibly everything they did wrong. This was usually followed by him shooting disproving glances at them every now and then, as though they were filth upon his overly polished shoe that he couldn't get rid of.  
  
Nevertheless, he tried everything in his power to instruct them. Zelgadis was obedient enough; he did what he was told with a nonchalant shrug and a sigh that he could be doing something better with his time, but for Amelia's sake, he obeyed. He didn't seem to mind; it was nice to have some peace and quiet, but even he was beginning to feel the pang of boredom.  
  
Gourry was Lina's shadow; whatever she did, he did as well. He had simply decided to let Lina handle situations like this, and he didn't really care at the moment as long as he could feast upon Seyrunn's luxurious dinners. He was still, however, anxious to get back on the road as soon as possible.  
  
Lina was another story. She was finding that being royal wasn't all it was cracked up to be; sure, she still enjoyed her new financial freedom, and there was no doubt that her appetite was being temporarily satisfied at dinners. She wasn't, however, used to being so stiff and upright during some occasions, and she took every opportunity to aggravate Sir Recburg that she could. She was becoming a bit cynical of the situation; she felt just a little deprived of adventure, now that everything was brought to her quite literally on a silver platter.  
  
But for now, she was willing to comply with the Palace's wishes. She couldn't ignore the lure of food and wealth for very long.  
  
Sir Recburg made a little motion with his neck, as though a bug had just wriggled it's way into his pressed suit. He walked towards them and bowed shortly before straightening his board-like back. "This is your dancing lesson. We will be doing some formal routines, ones that will most surely-"  
  
He looked over at Gourry, who, due to stuffing his mouth with a nearby platter of delicacies, had been silent the whole time. He cleared his throat loudly.  
  
Gourry went on eating. Lina folded her arms, smirking at the frustrated Sir Recburg, and Zel quickly tapped Gourry's shoulder. "Huh, what??" Gourry said, bits of cheese crumbling from his mouth.  
  
"In the future, I would advise you to refrain, once again, from dirtying our Seyrunn staple of etiquette at a dining occasion, and it is not even time for the main course." Sir Recburg looked pleased with himself when Gourry stopped eating to stare at him.  
  
"...What?"  
  
Lina proceeded to drag Gourry from his chair across the floor, then gave him a good bop. "He meant stop eating, idiot."  
  
Sir Recburg's infamous mustache was beginning to become thin from twitching so many times. Zelgadis edged over to Amelia and whispered, "If Lina and Gourry stay around much longer, he's gonna be bald."  
  
Amelia giggled as a new attendant, a woman with long, graying hair, walked into the room, wearing a dark blue dress down to her ankles. She didn't look as prim as Sir Recburg, who bowed to her and walked out of the room, muttering something to himself.  
  
Zelgadis saw Lina mouth, "Yes!" and Gourry gave her a look. The new instructor looked around the room and smiled kindly at them. "Right. I'm Lady Adara, and I'm the instructor of dance. Let's pair you off.."  
  
She looked at Gourry, with a lump on his head, and paired him up with Lina. When she looked at Zelgadis, however, she stroked her chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Who shall we pair you up with? My second assistant is sick today. She was supposed to be your partner….ah, well." She turned to Amelia and said, "Would you mind pairing with Sir Greywords, Princess?"  
  
Amelia looked at Zelgadis, then back to Adara. "Yes...sure." Zelgadis looked a bit taken aback, but nodded too.  
  
Lady Adara, who smiled and clapped her hands lightly. "Now! First. Bow to your partner."  
  
They did so...poor Gourry bumped his already lumpy head against Lina's, and she gave him a quick smack on the head. Amelia and Zelgadis stood up and looked at Lady Adara.  
  
"Now, gents, you place your right hand on the lady's waist-"  
  
Gourry didn't seem to mind this very much (though Lina was thoroughly making sure he didn't "try anything") but Zelgadis nearly choked. He looked over at Lady Adara, who was smiling graciously, and sputtered, "I'm sorry, 'waist'?!"  
  
Lady Adara frowned a little, then said, "Yes. Haven't you danced before, Sir Greywords?"  
  
Amelia was trying not to look at Zelgadis, her face turning pink, and Lina piped up, "Yeah, didn't you waltz with Amelia before?"  
  
Zelgadis felt his cheeks heat up again. "Not formally." He looked back at Lady Adara and swallowed. "You sure it's the waist?"  
  
Lady Adara looked Zelgadis over, and then saw Amelia, starting to blush. She grinned a secretive little grin, and nodded firmly. "Yes, absolutely. Don't worry, Sir Greywords, I'm sure the princess won't mind."  
  
This made Amelia go from pink to red, and Zelgadis murmured "Fine," turning red as well and placing his hand on Amelia's waist while Lina snickered. Gourry tried shushing her up to no avail.  
  
Lady Adara smiled at the two and walked between the two couples. "You know what? Why don't we try the Moonlight Serenade Waltz?" She looked at Amelia for a second.  
  
Amelia drew in her breath momentarily. "Do we have to do that one first?" she asked quietly, and Lady Adara nodded, and began walking over to the orchestra. Lina leaned over to Amelia. "What's the Moonlight Serenade Waltz?"  
  
Amelia said something, looking at the floor. Zelgadis looked at her. "...What?"  
  
Amelia looked up, turning her head to the side, but Zelgadis could tell that she was blushing-he could practically feel the heat radiating from her. "Slow dance."  
  
Zelgadis swallowed, watching Lady Adara walk back to them. "Sh-She's purposely doing this..."  
  
A few minutes later, after they learned the waltz (and after Gourry was beat quite a few times for messing up and stepping on Lina's foot) Lady Adara struck up the band, which started playing a soft, slow, gentle tune. Lina and Gourry seemed to be doing fine on their own, as Lady Adara quietly chanted, "One, two, three, one two three…"

Amelia was dancing closer to Zelgadis than she had before, even on the night of the ceremony. She was a bit uncomfortable, but being able to relax while dancing was helpful. She also noticed that Zelgadis's shoulder had a certain scent-it was a nice one, kind of like pine. She wondered if, after all the nights they spent in the forest, camping out, Zelgadis could still have that pine tree scent? It was in his hair, on his shoulders...she found herself being more relaxed, and the music, dimmed atmosphere, and pine smell made her feel sleepy. Her head subconsciously drooped against Zelgadis's shoulder.  
  
Zelgadis stopped for a second, but didn't want Lina to mock him for holding Amelia so close, so he kept dancing. He turned his head slightly to the right and said quietly, "Are you tired?"  
  
He could tell that Amelia was nodding her head. Her arms were resting on his shoulders for support, and despite his being nervous, he smiled at how the princess always seemed to fall asleep during times like these. He let out his breath and whispered, "Maybe you should ask her if you can go to bed. It's been a long week for all of us."  
  
Amelia shook her head softly and clung to Zelgadis's shoulders tightly. "No, no....I like it like this. It's...comfy, really. It's secure."  
  
He was surprised by her answer, and wondered how he could be so "secure" if he was nervous. "That's fine with me. But I think the music is almost over."  
  
It was true, the violins were beginning their slow whine to the end. Amelia sighed. "That's too bad. You're a good dancer, Zelgadis-san. I wish this was a bit longer….it's very comfortable now." She yawned, just as the lights brightened again.  
  
"Well, I'll be sure to remember that." He smiled to himself, still moving slowly in time to the music.  
  
"Hey...Zel! Amelia! Wake up, already!"  
  
Zelgadis turned around, letting go of Amelia, whose eyelids stopped drooping. She was a bit disappointed to lose the pine fresh smell against her cheek.  
  
She began blushing again when she saw Lina, Gourry, and Lady Adara looking at them. Lina was smirking, Gourry was rubbing his head, and Lady Adara was still smiling that secretive smile of hers.  
  
"I see the Princess nearly fell asleep. We'll just stop there for tonight. You all did a wonderful job. Good night." She swept past Lina and Gourry, but when she reached Zelgadis, she slowed down ever so slightly, and whispered, "The Princess is very attached to you, I see. " She smiled, bowed to Amelia, and disappeared into the corridor.  
  
Zelgadis shifted uncomfortably, then watched as Lina and Gourry each headed to their bedrooms.  
  
"Well, seeya later, Zel, Amelia...all this dancing's tired me out." She seemed to be hurrying out, her dress ruffling against the polished floor, and she turned the corner just as Gourry turned the other one, waving to Zelgadis and Amelia, who were now alone.  
  
Amelia yawned, stretching. "That was nice, Zelgadis-san. Slow dancing isn't that bad. Thank you." She turned to go, but first ran back to Zelgadis and sleepily wrapped him in a hug. "'Night." She walked back up the stairs.  
  
Zelgadis was surprised; she'd never hugged him that much before. He sighed and turned to leave, grinning to himself. She was right. Slow dancing wasn't that bad, once you got used to it.  
  
He could definitely get used to it.  
  


(Alright! Redone-ish! I didn't need to do much here, either. I hope you noticed that I've begun using song quotes. Why? Because this is the first chapter where the mood becomes something more than humor, and it's going a bit into depth. So, song quotes, I feel, are a must! ~*~Tams~*~)


	5. Paradise In A Piney Gazebo

(**AN**: Added song lyrics, see! *points below* ~*~Tams~*~)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Five: Paradise In A Piney Gazebo

  
"_You show your pain_

Like it really hurts

And I can't even

Start to feel mine

And I'm standing in place

With my head first

And I shake I shake I shake

And I see your progress

Stretched out for miles

And miles 

This is the sound that I make

These are the words I chose

But somehow the right thing to say

Just won't come out"

~ **Could I Be You, Matchbox 20**  
  
  
If there was one thing that Amelia could enjoy when she wasn't traveling, it was the garden.  
  
A year or so before she had begun to travel with Lina and the others, Amelia had discovered that the scent of flowers was relaxing. So she requested that a garden be planted near the palace, and she herself had helped grow the flowers, much to the dismay of the royal council.  
  
It was only a ten-minute walk to her private garden, and when she arrived there just before sunset, in a traveling gown the color of lilacs, she took a deep breath and sighed.  
  
She could truly appreciate the scent of the roses, daffodils, violets and other flowers throughout the small garden. There was a small gazebo at the opposite side, and finished white benches on every cobblestone pathway, and of course, millions of colorful flowers throughout the garden. It felt like the first breath of paradise every time she stepped through the white gates.  
  
Amelia took a big breath again. She thought she could detect just a small whiff of pine mixed in with the different flower scents, and she giggled. _That pine-fresh Zelgadis thing again._  
  
"I wonder why he smells so....piney," she said to herself, resting against the back of the white bench. She leaned her head back and opened her eyes. The sky above her was still a relaxing sky blue, starting to merge with the pinks and yellows from the sunset. Yes, it was almost paradise, she thought. The only thing that could possibly make this moment any better was....  
  
"Who's 'piney'?" said a voice near the gates, and Amelia jumped off the bench immediately. Zelgadis was standing there, in his traveling apparel, once again for lack of an expanding wardrobe (or his dislike of tuxedos). Amelia swallowed. "W-What are you doing here, Zelgadis-san?"  
  
Zelgadis let his traditional half-grin drift across his face, closing the gate. "Well, I'm finished being lectured for now, so I decided to find you. I'm not too fond of Sir Bonehead."  
  
Amelia chuckled in spite of her reddening face. "I'm sure he means well."  
  
Zelgadis stood near the other side of the bench. "Maybe. Anyway, what's piney?"  
  
Amelia pretended to be examining a nearby rose blossom. "Oh.....the....the gazebo?" Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I see....so, why do you come all the way out here without anyone else? It seems a bit strange."  
  
Amelia let go of the blossom, letting it fall gently onto the bench, and smiled, looking at the sky. "It's very relaxing...soothing, even. I mean, it's so calm and peaceful it's like nothing else exists except this one place, whenever I'm here." She looked at him. " It's comforting. Especially to get away from the palace."  
  
Zelgadis nodded. "Can I ask you something?"  
  
"You just did, Zelgadis-san," she said, grinning. "But go ahead."  
  
"Are you happy here? I mean, I know you're happy with your dad. But aren't you the least bit anxious to get out on the road again? Just out of curiosity." Zelgadis leaned against the wall, looking at her.  
  
She looked at him thoughtfully, picking up the blossom again. "Well, it's nice to be home. But I'll admit it, I kind of want to get on the road, with you and Gourry-san and Lina-san. I hope we can do that soon."  
  
"I know what you mean," said Zelgadis, looking out across the garden. Amelia glanced at him.  
  
"You're not happy here, Zelgadis-san?"  
  
"I didn't say that," said Zelgadis, turning a bit pink. "I'm just.....not used to etiquette yet." He took a small step forward, looking at the wall. "I'm enjoying it though. I'm willing to stay, for a while." He grinned at her. "Then we can get on the road again."  
  
Amelia smiled, clasping her hands. "I'm sure we can soon, Zelgadis-san!" She turned and took a few steps before looking back at him. "Want to go for a walk?"  
  
Zelgadis hesitated for a second, but nodded. "Sure." He leaned over and picked up the blossom. "Where to?"  
  
"How about the gazebo? You can smell the pine." Amelia giggled, and even Zelgadis managed a chuckle. "Sure."  
  
When they reached the gazebo after a few minutes of silence, Amelia leapt up onto the steps of the tiny building. "Oh, I love it here, it's so pretty!"  
  
Zelgadis followed and looked around. "Yeah, it's nice, I guess." He walked over to her. "Here, you forgot this. He held out the fragile rose blossom and, surprisingly, tucked it behind her ear. "There you go."  
  
Amelia blushed the same color as the sky and looked out the window. "Thank you," she said quietly, feeling the petals of the red flower against her hair. They were both silent again for a minute before she yawned. "I always seem to get tired out here....probably because it's so relaxing."  
  
Zelgadis smirked. "You seem to get tired a lot whenever I'm around." He chuckled, making her go pink again. 

"I'm sorry," she said, yawning.  
  
"No, it's alright." He leaned against the side of the gazebo next to her. "You're right, it's relaxing. I can't blame you."  
  
She looked up at him quickly, remembering something. "Zelgadis-san?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
She fingered the rose again. "What did Lady Adara say to you last night? Before we all went to bed? I'm just curious."  
  
He looked at her abruptly, turning away and feeling a tinge spread across his face. 'Oh.....nothing. Just goodnight."  
  
She eyed him suspiciously. "I don't think so....it didn't seem like goodnight, Zelgadis-san. It's ok, you can tell me. What was it?" She leaned against the gazebo the same way, eyeing him. He took a deep breath, turning around halfway.  
  
"S-She....she said, 'The princess is quite attached to you, I see.'" He turned red, staring at the floor.  
  
Amelia looked taken aback, blushing even more furiously than him. "Oh....." She sat on the bench, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry..." Zelgadis finally turned around, sitting next to her.  
  
"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault...." He looked equally embarrassed as Amelia faced him.  
  
She took a deep breath. "Ok, fine, Zelgadis, I am attached to you. " She faltered again, trying to not blush. "I mean, not attached, but you know....you're my good friend, and....I'm really comfortable around you, so....." She couldn't quite finish, but continued to mumble until Zelgadis tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"It's alright." He didn't look straight at her, so he managed to keep himself from blushing again. Amelia smiled softly, letting her breath out in relief. Because she still felt tired, she scooted over on the bench and leaned against Zelgadis's shoulder.  
  
Zelgadis couldn't keep himself from blushing any longer, and tried to adjust himself to behind leaned against. Even though Amelia had leaned against him before during the two times they were dancing, he couldn't get used to being snuggled against. He finally relaxed himself, cupping an arm around her shoulders. "You have to stop falling asleep on me so much," he said, grinning down at her sleepy face.  
  
Amelia smiled, eyes closed. "Sorry...but it's your fault you're so comfy." Zelgadis chuckled, watching her tuck the rose blossom securely into place. He breathed in all the scents of the flowers mixing around. "You're right. It's almost perfect here, isn't it."  
  
Before she fell asleep completely, Amelia snuggled closer to him and sighed, "No, it's perfect now."  


  
(Ah, kawaii, ne? Let's leave them alone for now. *wink* Okay, I'll behave. ^_^;; ~*~Tams~*~) 


	6. A Kiss Can Do Strange Things To People

(**AN**: Thanks so much to Shira for her help with this chapter! Also, in these song lyrics, it's the beginning of the song, and then the very end of the song. That space in between is signified by the ellipses. *blink* I just sounded smart. *blink* ~*~Tams~*~)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Six: A Kiss Can Do Strange Things To People

__

"It's all relative, how the picture can change

  
when the light is coming from the other side

  
It's not easy, your feet are grounded, 

  
only until the earth below you moves.

  
It's all relative….

….To the one staying back, the other is leaving.

  
But to the one moving on, the other's not willing to follow."

~ **It's All Relative, Sarah Baravetto**

  
  
"You know what, Zelgadis-san?" Amelia asked as they were walking back to the palace. Zelgadis looked down at the princess, noticing that the rose blossom was still in her hair.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You haven't been keeping up your dark and mysterious self lately!" Amelia giggled into her palms as Zelgadis cast a half-grin.  
  
"Really. I didn't expect you to notice something like that. Maybe all the fork-lifting and waltzing has taken all the 'creepy' out of me?" He laughed at himself, shaking his head, while Amelia looked at him open- mouthed.  
  
"Zelgadis-san....." Zelgadis looked down at her. 

"Yes?"  
  
"You laughed...I mean, you really _laughed_! You've never really done that before!" Amelia stared at him incredulously as they walked. Zelgadis' cheeks turned pink.  
  
"I guess not...is there something wrong with that?" He tried to make his face into a scowl, but found that it was somehow hard to do. Amelia shook her head.  
  
"No, it's just...you're really changing, Zelgadis-san." She gave him a warm smile, causing him to keep walking and look forward, still pink from her remark. He wondered, did she mean a change for the better? If so...he glanced over at the happy princess, her fingers brushing the flower in her hair. If so, did she want him to change?  
  
If she thought he was changing, he thought, perhaps that was good.  
  
Before he knew it, they had reached the palace doors, which Amelia opened. As soon as they had taken a step into the room, Lina called, "Hey, where have you two been?"  
  
Amelia stopped beside Zelgadis. Lina, in a simple evening dress, folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, grinning somewhat evilly. "Amelia, where'd you get the flower?"  
  
Amelia blushed discretely and draped a strand of black hair partially over the rose. "The garden," she said softly, glancing at Zelgadis, who blushed as well.  
  
Lina looked as though she was about to say something, but then a loud "Ahem!" made them all turn to the door, where Sir Recburg was standing ever- primly, followed by Lady Adara in her usual midnight dress.  
  
"I assume you all have been diligent in your lessons?" asked Lady Adara, giving them all her warm, gentle smile. They all nodded, however, Sir Recburg's mustache twitched and he said in a loud voice, "They would have learned faster if they knew how to properly conduct their learnings with grace and poise, as I have tried to teach them."  
  
He seemed to direct this more at Lina and Gourry than at Zelgadis, who had been obedient in a lenient way for the past two weeks. Lina let out a low growl, but Gourry placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a warning look, ad she stopped. Zelgadis wondered, in surprise, why was she all of a sudden paying heed to Gourry?  
  
Amelia was watching Sir Recburg in fear, still worried that they would be punished. If he were less prissy, she thought, he would be sticking out his tongue at Lina right now.  
  
The thought made her giggle, but she managed to stop as Lady Adara tapped Sir Recburg's shoulder, saying, " I think they've done a splendid job, considering that they've learned it all in three mere weeks. Now, let me take care of this lesson."  
  
Sir Recburg looked embarrassed, but he turned abruptly and walked out of the hall. "Yeah, go on, Gramps!" muttered Lina triumphantly. Lady Adara shook her head and walked towards them.  
  
"I know you've all learned the dining etiquette already, am I correct?" When they all nodded, she continued. " Well, now you will learn the after dinner etiquette." She began walking back and forth in front of them, slowly.  
  
"After dinner etiquette is for parties, of course, when there is a dessert banquet laid out, including dessert drinks. Because you already know table etiquette, you will only have to learn the tasting."  
  
At this, both Lina's and Gourry's mouths began to water.  
  
"Wine-tasting is more essential than dessert-tasting because it holds out longer than dessert-tasting. Basically, it's more fun." She chuckled at herself as she walked to a table. Now, you can all sit."  
  
Zelgadis sat near the head of the table next to Amelia, and Lina and Gourry on the opposite side, and lady Adara stood by Amelia. "Princess, you don't mind helping with the lesson? You haven't tried wine-tasting before...."  
  
Amelia, a bit annoyed with the fact that they thought she couldn't handle a little glass of wine, held herself up high and said, "Of course I am! I can do it, don't worry about me." She leaned forward eagerly as Lady Adara shrugged.  
  
"Alright, if you're sure...Now!" She clapped her hands together and sat at the head of the table. "Let's start with the white wine..."  
  
Fifteen minutes later....  
  
"_Hic_! Yup, this is just swell, I thinks......ooh, looky, it's-_hic_!--blue!" Amelia began pulling on Zelgadis's hair. He winced as she did, but gently pulled her hands off and held them on the table.  
  
"Wow, and it was just two drinks, too..." Lina couldn't help laughing at Amelia's disoriented state. Gourry was watching Amelia with fascination, and turned to Lina, scratching his head. "What's wrong with Amelia? She's acting....weird."  
  
"She's drunk, you idiot!" said Lina, as Amelia began absentmindedly braiding the fringe of the tablecloth. Lady Adara looked confused.  
  
"She's never acted like this.....then again, she's never had wine before." She watched, confused, as Amelia began swaying back and forth, chanting, "Fishy, fishy,--_hic_!-- fishy, fishy, fishy is my-_hic_!-- friend!"  
  
Lady Adara sighed. "We can continue, but someone needs to take the Princess up to her room and let her rest......"  
  
Unanimously, she, Lina, and Gourry all looked up at Zelgadis, whose hair was now being braided by the hiccuping Amelia. Zelgadis blushed and wrenched his head out of Amelia's grip. "Me?"  
  
"Well, who else?" said Lina, smirking. "She's obviously the most attached to you right now."  
  
Zelgadis glanced at Lady Adara, who couldn't help grinning widely. "She's right, you know. It won't take you that long, Sir Zelgadis." She nodded her head in understanding and Zelgadis sighed.  
  
"Oh, fine...c'mon, Amelia." He helped Amelia stand to a somewhat upright position, draped her arm around his shoulder, and walked her out of the hall. "Shwell, shwell, yup, I'm-_hic_!-shwell...."  
  
A few minutes later, Zelgadis, breathing heavily from the weight on his arm, had made it to the hallway where Amelia's room was. He staggered into her room, Amelia still talking. "I think-_hic_!-that the kitties should have gone to the fireman's home....don't you think? I think-_hic_!--….it's a good book, yup, it's a good book...."  
  
Nodding as he listened to Amelia's mindless rants, Zelgadis stumbled over to the bed, gently letting her fall onto it. He sat on the far end of the bed, wiping his forehead. "Whew...."  
  
Amelia laid there for a second, muttering random insanities to herself before sitting straight up and staring at Zelgadis. Zelgadis, after he finished taking a breath, looked over at her. "...What?"  
  
Amelia grinned; it was a drunken, foolish grin, but she crawled over to Zelgadis and sat right next to him. Zelgadis blinked as she giggled.  
  
"Hey, Zellygadis...._hic_! You got's perdy eyes, yup, ya-_hic_!-do...."  
  
She brushed away a few of his bangs, looking at his eyes, and making him blush like crazy. "Amelia, you need to rest.....you're still disoriented."  
  
She smiled her stupid smile again. "Oh, I gotta rest, yeah-_hic_!-gotta rest....thanks so much for carryin' me. Yer a nice guy, yup, ya are- _hic_!-and you're pretty darn cute too."  
  
Zelgadis just looked at her, nonplused. He knew that because she was so drunk, she couldn't possibly control what she said, so he knew she had to be dilusional.  
  
Before he could tell her she needed her rest again, she reached over, grabbed his shoulders and kissed him full on the mouth.  
  
When Amelia let go, still wearing her drunken look, he sat there, as stiff as a stone. (No pun intended.) "Yup, yer a good-hic!-kisser, yeah, you are. Nighty-night." And with that, she fell over on her side and began snoring immediately.  
  
"......." For almost five minutes, Zelgadis sat there, looking as if he had just been hit by a storm. When he came to, she shook his head and stared at the sleeping Amelia.  
  
Unable to speak a word, he pulled the sheets over her shoulders, looking at the rose underneath a black strand of hair. He pulled it out silently and pressed it into her open hand. "....Good night, Amelia."  
  
He walked over to the door, still looking stunned, and pulled the door shut.  
  
Amelia's fingers subconsciously closed over the rosebud.  
  
~*~(Tell me you all saw that coming. ^^)~*~  
  
"Hey, the man of the hour! Where've you been for the past twenty-five minutes?"  
  
Lina was wearing her usual smirk when Zelgadis had returned to the hall, forcing his stunned look into a nonchalant one. Gourry waved dumbly to Zelgadis, and Lady Adara greeted him with a confident smile.  
  
"And the Princess is put to bed, I assume?" She lengthened her smile as Zelgadis sat down to his seat.  
  
"...Uh huh."  
  
"'Uh huh' Since when do you say 'uh huh'?" Lina stared at him suspiciously. Lady Adara shrugged for him and reached for a bottle.  
  
" You know, she wasn't completely drunk.....whatever she said or did, it must have been done with a subconcious mind. So along some line, she could sense what she was doing."  
  
"So she knew she was rambling on about nothing?" Lina poured herself another half glass. "Weirdo."  
  
Zelgadis didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation as he sat there. She was partially awake? That would mean....he turned as red as the crimson cloth of the table. So she might have known she was kissing him. Why would she want to kiss him?  
  
He leaned back in his chair and grabbed his glass weakly. The day had been far too bizarre to try and figure anything out, so he would wait until the morning to ask her if she remembered wanting to kiss him.  
  
He put the glass back on the table, feeling as though he was drained of all energy. He automatically rose from the table and headed to the stairway.  
  
"Zel? Where are you going?" Lina called after him. He barely turned around to reply.  
  
"I'm going to bed. I'm tired. Good night." With that, he turned and walked up the stairs, and for some reason, he felt triumphant. Maybe from the fact that he had succeeded in concealing his stunned self with a mask of mystery?  
  
He chuckled to himself. He was getting more humorous by the day. Amelia was right, he was certainly starting to change.  
  
For the better? He puzzled himself over that as he climbed the steps. If he was changing for the better, and Amelia was getting closer to him by each passing day….  
  
He stopped for a minute. That would mean he was in love. Or something. He didn't know what that was like, so he shook his head, and the thought away, and opened the door to his room.  
  
He collapsed onto the bed, welcoming the softness of the pillow and sheets with open arms. He was exhausted after the day's events, which, he thought, hadn't been that far off from completely bizarre.  
  
He sighed and rolled over, forgetting about changing to pajamas. He wasn't sure about what to make of the night, but he wasn't going to trouble himself with it now. He blew out the nearby candle, and as the room settled into darkness, he thought to himself.  
  
Amelia and I are changing a lot. For the better.  
  
His eyes closed slowly, and he was soon settling into a deep sleep. 

(No AN news here! ~*~Tams~*~)


	7. When Life Gives You Lemons, Talk To Gour...

(AN: Okay, okay, fine, I know what you're all thinking—what in L-Sama's name took you so long to update?! Well, I have four reasons: One, I am a lazy arse. Two, because I only update when I get really inspired, which I currently am, so I'm going to put that to good use. Three, because people, I noticed, have been asking for some L/G. And we all know I'll do anything to appease your wishes. *sarcasm drip* When I'm not lazy, anyway. And four, because if I don't, D.S. is going to threaten me with a nameless blackmail that scares the livin' crap out of me. Especially since she discovered that new caffeinated-to-the-core drink that gets her more hyper than Mountain Dew Code Red and Surge put together, god knows how scary _that_ could be…

D.S.: GET ON WITH THE FIC, DAMN IT!!

Ah, right, anyway. ^.^; Enjoy, oh loyally patient readers! By the way, if you're wondering, this is the day after the, erm, wine-drinking incident. *wink wink* )

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Seven: When Life Gives You Lemons, Talk To Gourry

__

"All I think about is waiting

and the people

we are changing into 

There was a sound

but I don't know how it goes 

There was something 

we went through, 

blew in from the coast 

You said, 

you are of the earth, 

I am of the sky 

I don't even know what the hell that means "

****

~ Farther, Third Eye Blind

Lina was, to put it bluntly, bored.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the mounds of food being laden on her each day, oh no—who wouldn't be able to appreciate _that_? No, that portion of royalty was a divine little piece of heaven for her, even more so than when Amelia paid for all her meals at restaurants, because palace food was basically _six-star_ quality.

Was it because she was learning things she'd never imagined could even matter to a normal human being, such as, a lady should never frolic around at social gatherings in anything that could even remotely be considered pants, because only something that resembled a skirt was acceptable, and, added to that, the fact that nearly every maid, servant, or worker of higher class was constantly reminding her of that every chance that they got?

No. It wasn't even that reason.

It was merely the fact that she hadn't been able to use any type of magic in nearly a month.

This was a draining process. When Lina Inverse couldn't use magic, Lina Inverse got bored and even a little weak, sometimes. She'd noticed that when she tried picking up a bucket full of water that one of the servants had left lying carelessly around the grounds, she'd left a couple of calluses on her palms. Even not running around in her usual fashion due to high heels was slowly making her into a delicate girl.

The lack of physical prowess and absence of magic left her feeling bored, tired, and impatient. Magic was a part of Lina that couldn't go unnoticed. It was as much a part of her as her arms or legs, and not using it drained her a little.

Not to mention the fact that nothing had been blown up, burned, broken, or permanently made into charcoal by the Dra-matta for a month—a new record. All of that added up to a very irritable Lina.

She was reflecting on the dilemma one day when she finally grasped a bit of time to herself. (Note that Sir Recburg had been practically stalking her, most likely to point out her many societal faults.) Lina sat in her room, wearing a white, corset-like day dress and laying on her bed with her hands behind her head. That was when there was a knock at the door.

"Lina? Are you decent?"

The bandit killer rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid, Gourry, of course I'm decent."

The door opened and Gourry poked his blonde head in, wearing a tentative look. "Well, yeah, but I thought that if I came in and you were naked, you might throw something at me. Not that there's much to see." 

He had a split second to wear a dopey grin that clearly conveyed that he had no idea what he just said, until Line launched her shoe at him. 

"You don't say that to girls, you idiot!" Now she was sitting up on her bed, wearing an even grumpier face than before as Gourry stood up straight, massaging the lump on his forehead and coming over to pull a chair from the vanity.

"Well, I was just making sure you wouldn't hurt me, even though you did anyway…." He sat with his arms resting on the back of the chair, giving Lina a curious look. "I just wanted to know how you're doing."

Lina raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Why do you need to ask? I'm fine. I always have been," she said with an edgy tone, giving Gourry a sideways look to see if he believed her. She wasn't surprised when he shook his head to say he didn't.

"Nope, that won't work, Lina, you've been moping around for a while. I can tell. I know these things." He held his head up high.

Lina had to laugh at that one. "You? Gourry, you didn't even notice you had salad dressing all over your face that one night," she snorted. "How can you tell what people are feeling?" She chuckled again.

Gourry glanced at her, looking strangely serious. "I may not know a lot of things, Lina, but I know when you're down. And right now, you're so down you're…." He stopped to scratch his head and look heavenward, searching for a good phrase. "You're.…um….you're…." He shrugged. "You're so down, you're in China!"

He was answered by receiving yet another lump on his forehead. Lina brought her fist back down and rubbed it. "Don't try to be smart, it doesn't suit you! And it's gonna give you a headache, if you're not careful." When Gourry came back up from the floor, he watched her massage her knuckles. 

"What's wrong with your hand?"

Lina stopped immediately. "Nothing, it's just…I haven't hit you for at least a week."

Gourry pointed a finger at her in a good imitation of the Justice Finger ™. "You see?? There IS something wrong with you!"

Lina gave him a dangerous glare that clearly said, 'I'm going to hurt you', so Gourry scooted his chair backward before continuing. " C'mon, Lina, I don't care if you admit you're not feeling well." He glanced at her, cocking his head in an attempt of puppy eyes, but ended up looking foolish.

However, it must have worked in some weird way, because Lina heaved a great sigh and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine….I guess you know I haven't been myself lately, or something like that."

Gourry nodded attentively. Lina continued. "It's.…well, you know, we've been here for a month, and all we've been doing is sitting here and primping ourselves up and that damn Recburg is always on my case…."

Soon, Lina was laying out her entire dilemma to the last person she expected to get advice from; Jellyfish-For-Brains Gourry, who listened incredibly well for his usual dimwitted self. When she finished, he was looking heavenward again, seeming, to Lina, that he might be having his very first intelligent thought.

"Well, Lina.…you should go see a shrink!"

Ah, how wrong she was.

Poor Gourry, already laden with bruises, tumbled backwards after being socked in the jaw by an indignant Lina. " YOU STUPID JELLYFISH BRAINS! I just told you my depressing story and you tell me to visit a shrink?! What is the matter with you?!" She sat there steaming, and not bothering to resist the temptation to throw her other shoe, which she did.

Gourry scrambled back onto his chair with difficulty, as there was a shoe stuck to his face. "I'm sorry, Lina!" he said, his voice muffled until he pulled the shoe off, leaving the shoe's imprint on his face. "But I guess since he's out of town on business, I should tell you what I think."

"Gee, are you sure you're capable of that?" answered Lina sourly, narrowing her crimson eyes at him, but Gourry didn't seem to notice. He leaned his head on the back of the chair and was silent for a minute.

"I think you're homesick. Well, not homesick, since you don't really have a home, but you're.…um…..roadsick! Yeah, that's it! Roadsick!" He held his head up in pride, grinning broadly. 

Lina just blinked. "I don't follow."

Gourry gave her a blank look, as if it were difficult to explain all of that again. He ran his fingers through his blonde mane and looked at her. "Well, we've been out on the road for about three years, or something, right?"

Lina nodded mutely, surprised that he could even remember how many years he'd known her.

"Well, yeah.…I guess when you're out on the road for that long, you get used to it. You've been traveling and running around and Fireballing and Dragon Slaving things for so long that you're not used to being pampered like this. You need to be adventuring to be yourself, Lina." He half-smiled at her. "You need to be the Bandit Killer again."

Lina, struck by his simple but knowledgeable advice, stared at him for a second, before giving him a rare, genuine smile. "....Thanks, Gourry. I think you're right."

Gourry nodded encouragingly. "Yeah, especially because the Pink Frilly Puffball doesn't have as much of a ring to it, does it?"

WHAM! For the third time, another bruise was applied to Gourry's growing collection of bodily injuries from Lina's foot landing on his already boot-imprinted face. "Itai…." murmured the poor swordsman from the jumbled heap on the floor.

"DO NOT…." breathed Lina heavily, casting a dark look at him as a vein popped out of her temple, "CALL ME….THE PINK—" ---she stomped on his foot—"FRILLY—" –she stepped on his stomache ("Oof!")—"PUFFBALL," she finished by lifting him up by his hair and tossing him aside.

She stood there, looming creepily over poor Gourry, who was by now nearly crippled but managed to pull himself up onto the chair again, grinning weakly at Lina. "Well, Lina….I did help you better than a shrink, right?"

"Yes. I'll give you that much," said Lina shortly, not hinting to the slight admiration she was holding for him. "I'll have to talk to Amelia about it and see what she'll say…when she wakes up from her hangover anyway." 

She was wearing an expression that was hard for Gourry to read, but Lina knew—something between that slight admiration and something else….she suddenly felt inspired to do something about it, and before Gourry knew what happened, Lina had kissed him swiftly on the mouth before dashing out the door with a hurried, "Thanks!"

Stunned, Gourry lightly touched his mouth before standing up and dusting himself off. Something about that kiss made him feel so good that be bent over and began cleaning the mess in Lina's room, with a little smile on his face.

(*sigh* Well, I hope you liked that! Was it in character enough? I hope it was…tell me honestly. And by the way, I deleted some of my old stories I'm not finishing, but don't worry, there's still plenty. ^_^ Ja ne! ~*~Tams~*~)


	8. Extremes Of Love Or Something Like That

(AN: This is a short AN, I don't wanna lose my sudden strike of inspiration just yet. But I warn you; you might get bored, because this part required a lot of thinking by Zelgadis. Hey, it was necessary, I think. Gah, thinking. I don't own the song I used here, MUCH MUCH thanks to DS for this! ~*~Tams~*~)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Eight: The Extremes of Love, Or Something Like That

__

"I'm not supposed to be scared of anything, but I don't know where I am 

__

I wish that I could move but I'm exhausted and nobody understands (how I feel) 

I'm trying hard to breathe now but there's no air in my lungs 

There's no one here to talk to and the pain inside is making me numb 

I try to hold this under control 

They can't help me 'cause no one knows"

**~ Changes, 3 Doors Down**

****

Zelgadis was awake, and now, quite contrary to last night, his confusion had turned to something remotely like fear. Now, fear and Zelgadis are two words that don't often come together in the same sentence, because Zelgadis was a modestly brave person. 

In battle, he didn't seem to care, and took care of what he needed to take care of. In those life and death situations that seemed to come up a lot in his life as common events, he was cautious but fearless.

In everyday life (usually consisting of bandit burnings, restaurant raiding, and general conversation that involved Lina injuring Gourry), he was the observer, saying his bit when he felt like it, and not afraid (and still not caring) about what anyone thought of it, minus those minor events where one of them managed to make him blush.

But when it came to matters of the heart, he was somewhat clueless, and having no knowledge of something could very easily scare you. In short, Zelgadis was afraid.

This being an occasion he wouldn't like sharing with the rest of the world, he sat on his bed, a whirlwind of thoughts passing rapidly in and out of his mind, coming to him like gunfire.

Amelia kissed him. She had some conscious level of knowing what she did. Kissing meant some level of caring, so what could that amount to? The extreme; love. Once again, Zelgadis couldn't imagine anyone being able to love him. 

He took the time he had before the morning (this was at about four in the morning) to reflect on the possibilities, the pros, and the cons, whatever you like to call it.

__

Alright, he thought, _so she kissed me_. _I guess that's the kind of thing she'd do, since she's never gotten drunk before_…but still, what came to mind was what Lady Adara had casually mentioned—that she knew, sort of, what she was doing. So why would she want to kiss Zelgadis, even if it was only a little part of her doing so? Only caring for him that she'd be willing to kiss him.

But what was caring, anyway? There was friendly care, like the kind between two friends, obviously. There was care between family, like a bond that kept them together. But then there was the care that meant you couldn't live without another person because your care was so strong, it could be called passion. 

That was love, wasn't it? 

He didn't know; as if anyone had felt that way about him. He was the Heartless Chimeric Swordsman, or something to that extent, emphasis on Heartless. Heartless meant there was no heart. But, now that he thought about it, that was completely absurd. Everyone had a heart, no matter how cold it was. So he had a heart. But could he care?

Of course he could, he thought, his pondering running deeper. He did care for his friends, because they were the only ones he'd ever had. Their bond may have seemed casual, but there was still the fact that everyone knew, that they would risk their lives to help each other. He'd come to know and respect, but not go too deep into, that friendship. So he could care in the friendly shade of the word.

Now, caring for family, that was something he never knew and never would know. Rezo was the only family he'd ever known, but something that could not count. Rezo, because of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo having been sealed inside his body, had been transformed into someone cold and unRezo-like. Since Rezo was the only person he could consider family, that couldn't account for much of anything.

So, if he could care for his friends….and he'd never known the care for family.…what about that last one….love?

He turned sideways to lie on his back and stare at the ceiling. He didn't know if he could handle that kind of thing. Passion was something Zelgadis did not have a handle on, one of the few things in fact. He'd made a life and a reputation for himself, that Heartless Chimeric Swordsman bit, he'd grown to be friends with Lina and Gourry and the rest of them, and he'd planned on leaving it at that. 

Never did he stop to think that one of them could want something more than his rare friendship.

So, did that mean that Amelia loved him? How could she even think about that, he thought, when I'm cursed with a hideous….his expression became disgusted. No one can love someone like me, the cold and heartless chimera, he thought bitterly. That was all he was. A chimera. A human and a chimera wouldn't do. That was that, he decided. I'll just make sure she knows that what she did was purely under the influence, and nothing will happen.

If only he knew that he was doing all of that out of fear, because Zelgadis was afraid to change, excluding what he'd thought before. Maybe Amelia was changing. Changing her image of him, perhaps. 

But Zelgadis didn't want to change. He would remain cold, and nothing could hurt him. Friendship could stay, but nothing above that level. Amelia could start to care me, if she wanted, she could change her image, but he wouldn't. That was too dangerous, because he had to focus—on his cure-- and no one wanted to get hurt. No more losing his mysterious image. No more being carefree. No more turning into something he couldn't be. 

The sound of the morning horn call startled him, but he went easily to his closet to find something to wear—and coldly, not with a slight smile, like he had been doing. No more trying to be something else.

That was that.


	9. How To Be Heartless

(AN: Yup, 'nother update. I decided to make this chapter, and maybe the rest of the chapters, a songfic. I don't own this song, "Find Your Way Back", by Michelle Branch. 

[ ] = song lyrics

Italicized stuff is in italics in the story.)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Nine: How To Be Heartless

It was almost noon before Amelia had woken up. Being very wise and thankfully, generous, Lady Adara had convinced the palace staff to allow the princess time to sleep in and regain her health. 

But until Amelia knew the whole story of what had happened the previous night, she had no idea why once second, she remembered sitting down with Lady Adara and everyone, and the next moment, waking up still dressed in her evening gown. Instantly, by the feeling she got from her lightheaded swaying, she knew that what happened would obviously be a memory that was most unpleasant.

She had to blink several times in order to see her bedroom clearly. When her vision had come back and the feathery light feeling had begun to recede, she felt something fragile in her closed hand. A flower. She blinked again, her thoughts fuzzy. _Where did I get a flower….? _She had to think backwards…

__

Oh, that's right, she thought. _The garden. Zelgadis-san._ For the first time that morning, she suddenly felt eager to get up and going, so immediately, she flew across the room to her closet to begin searching for the first thing she could consider wearing. _That's it_, she thought happily_. Zelgadis-san! He can explain to me what happened._ She seized the lavender traveling dress she'd worn in the garden and began dressing.

~*~*~*~

Zelgadis had chosen his traveling apparel. Maybe this was another step towards becoming the Oh-So-Heartless chimera again, who knew. Even he didn't. All he knew was that things were going back to the way they were, and that meant on his own again.

He hadn't yet planned how to leave. He'd decided in such a fearful rush that nothing had come out neatly. He was going to look for his cure and get back to business, of course, and Lina and Gourry could stay here with Amelia….

He exhaled. He wouldn't think of Amelia just now. Every time he did, he seemed to have to catch his breath in some way. He would explain to her what had happened. He would tell her about getting back to his cure. He would leave. That was that. He had to leave before he was back to who he had begun changing into. What had he been thinking? Dancing close to her….letting her snuggle up to him.…what was that? Someone he couldn't be just yet. 

Human.

And then he struggled a bit, fidgeting with his knuckles as he walked. Should he walk away so rashly? Was it just the whirlwind of thoughts that had blown him away, surrounding him like a torrent?

What did he really want?

Humanity. And so it must be, he decided underneath his breath. 

[ _I used to get away with so much._ ]

Then abruptly, as he turned the corner, something small and fast hurtled towards him like a blur of black and violet, hitting his stomach and tumbling backwards onto the floor with a groan. Luckily, being made of stone, that didn't have much effect on him, and he simply stared at the heap on the floor for a second before he realized it was a very anxious and very hurried Amelia. 

"Amelia, what are you doing?" he asked, slightly exasperated, dangling his arm for her to grasp, which she did, pulling herself upwards and gasping with delight at who it turned out to be.

[ _Now I can't get away._ ]

"Looking for you, Zelgadis-san!" She steadied herself, remnants of the hangover still making her feel lightheaded, dusted herself off, and gave him a bright smile. "I was wondering if I could ask you to explain something to me."

Zelgadis looked down at her with the most scornful look he could muster, which came out better than it had been lately. Things were already going back to how they were. "Alright.…because I had something to tell you as well."

[ _I even thought that it was simple..._.]

[_.…To say the things I wanted to say. _]

"Really, Zelgadis-san?" The eager with which she spoke seemed to strike at him, leaving him feeling pained. How she reacted might influence how he left. 

He wanted to get his point across, but not leave her so upset that he wouldn't think about anything else, because how she felt did matter, in a small way, he reminded himself. Being the Heartless Chimera may involve being cold at times, but he'd still told himself that he was friends with them, and that was how it was going to stay. 

[ _And you told me everything I wanted to hear. _]

[ _And you sold me…. now I don't know how I should feel. _]

A few minutes later, they were situated at a small table in the entrance hall, Amelia looking cheerful, Zelgadis, awkward but determined. He forgot to be cold when he looked at how cheery she was, and he was sure that it would be even harder to tell her he was leaving.

Then, he had to explain what happened last night.…he almost blushed profusely at the thought, but caught himself at the last second. There was to be no more of that. He stared down the eager look in her sapphire eyes with difficulty. Why was being heartless so hard? Was it just facing someone with so much heart of her own, enough to rival his own? He cleared his throat, perhaps louder than he should have. "First of all, I'm sure you want to know what happened last night."

[ _I should know me._ ]

[ _And baby, you would think I knew better._ ]

Amelia nodded, her hair bobbing up and down, unbrushed and unheeded in her haste. The look she had prevented Zelgadis from beginning quickly and easily. "Well….obviously, you must have felt lightheaded and sick this morning."

She nodded again. "Not so much sick as lightheaded, but you're right, Zelgadis-san."

He shook his head in agreement. "Right. Well....I know you won't be pleased to hear this, but you drank two glasses of wine. And I'm guessing you never have before, because you were drunk after that." He adjusted his position stiffly as Amelia gasped sharply.

"Really?! Oh…why didn't one of you stop me? I shouldn't have tried.…" She collapsed on her arms, sighing dramatically. "Well…I suppose that if it's done, it's done. Was I very terrible, Zelgadis-san?"

[ _I'm finding my way back to you_. ]

[ _And everything I used to be_. ]

He let a little chuckle escape him for the time being….a very small one, however. "No, you weren't terrible....you did try to braid my hair after you did the tablecloth....but, anyway, Lady Adara asked me to take you up to your room and you—" Here was where he reached a standstill.…how to say it without blushing. Was it impossible? "Well, you were very disoriented, so you had some trouble putting a sentence together correctly.…oh, and you kissed me, so you were definitely out of it." Yep. Impossible. The words came out rapidly, like cannonfire, shot out one after another. The familiar red tinge appeared on his cheeks for just a second, with how hard he was trying to stop it, it dissipated after a moment or two of embarrassment.

[ _And waiting is all that I can do_. ]

[ _Until you find your way back to me._ ]

Amelia drew in a sharp intake of breath, fiddling with her thumbs as Zelgadis had done so many times before. "Well....I'm.…I'm sorry about th-that, Zelgadis-san…..but….."

The memory came rushing back to her when she remembered last night, after Zelgadis had explained it…..muttering random phrases, yes.…being carried up to her bedroom.…sitting on the bed, swaying, really…..kissing Zelgadis….!! So she had. She'd wanted to for quite a while, and being loosened up had obviously helped.

She gasped and covered her face so Zelgadis would not see it as red as a tomato. Zelgadis only blinked. What was she doing? That didn't matter, he reminded himself. "Well, Amelia, either way, I wanted to tell you I have to go."

[ _What if I said what I was thinking?_ ]

[ _What if that says too much?_ ]

Immediately, the scarlet colors drained from Amelia's face, going from tomato-red to sheet-pale. "What? But, Zelgadis-san…..aren't you at least going to talk to me about—well, you know." She gave him a startled, pleading look. "You're….not going to leave now, with the training, and we were getting along so well—and I at least thought we could talk—" she stammered.

"I haven't been focused, Amelia. I have to get back to finding my cure. I liked being here….with you, but I can't ignore it for that long." Words still came out rapidly, but he was confident now, and said it stiffly so she couldn't suspect any regrets. That was part of being heartless. No regrets.

[ _When everybody's got a reason_ ]

[ _I feel like giving up_. ]

"Ignore what, exactly?" Amelia's tone was different; it was oddly sharp. Zelgadis remained steadfast. There was no room for changing his mind now. 

"What I need to do, and what I need to do is find my cure. I want to be human."

"You _are_ human, Zelgadis-san!" Amelia had stood up, her white knuckles clutching the edge of the table, shaking slightly. "Don't you understand? You are human! You think and feel just like me or Lina-san or anyone!"

[ _And you told me everything I wanted to hear._ ]

[_And you sold me…..now I don't know how I should feel._ ]

That was when Zelgadis stood up too. He wasn't going to stay for a speech about how he looked cool, not again. He wasn't going to let anything stop him this time, and he was getting irritated with being intercepted. "Amelia, I can stay and pretend that I'm a normal—person. But I'm not going to lie to myself, and I'm not going to wait and see what happens when I pretend. Let me go." 

His voice had become as harsh as Amelia's, and his face was hardened with anger—how could she make believe he was anything but a freak? He wasn't human. He stalked over to the door, not looking back, until she called out to him, her voice sounding choked and angry.

[ _I should know me._ ]

[ _And baby, you would think that I knew better._ ]

"How you look doesn't change how you feel, Zelgadis-san!" He turned around and found that she was right in his face, blinking back tears. Surprising him, she gripped his shoulders and clenched her teeth. "Tell me what you feel, at least, Zelgadis-san. Why don't you tell me how you feel about me?"

"I don't feel anything!" he shoved her hands off, but she stood in the same spot, her hands balled into weakly held fists. She didn't bother holding the tears back anymore; they were rolling down her cheeks. 

"What did you feel last night? You must have felt something when I kissed you! Humans feel things like that! Zelgadis-san, what did you feel? You must have felt a human emotion! What did you feel??"

[ _I'm finding my way back to you._ ]

[ _And everything I used to be._ ]

"NOTHING!" He turned from her sharply and stalked through the doors, slamming them behind him. He wasn't just angry now; he was furious at the act she kept putting on. 

It was true, he had felt something last nothing, but it was just some stupid thing. Hormones, perhaps. The thought was almost sickening, considering that he was supposed to be a dark and mysterious soul. Now, he was just confused.

[ _And waiting is all I can do. _]

[ _Until you find your way back to me._ ]

He looked down the dirt road to the horizon. The sun was just coming up. Lina and Gourry should be coming down for breakfast now, he thought. They'll know soon. 

[ _Until you find your way back to me._ ]

[ _Until you find your way back to me._ ]

He looked down at the dusty road. It was firmly packed, and no footsteps crossed it. It had definitely been a while since they'd all been on the road. Now, it was just him. Just Zelgadis. 

[ _I used to get away with so much._ ]

Alone.

[ _I'm finding my way back to you._ ]

[ _And everything I used to be._ ]

Again.

[ _And waiting is all that I can do._ ]

[ _Until you find your way back to me._ ]

He began heading out onto the road. He didn't know where he was going, really, but he knew there were quite a few temples around this area that had to have some material he could look for. That was what he could do for now.

That was that.

[ _I used to get away with so much._ ]

( Wow, RB has gotten somewhat angsty, ne? Don't worry folks, it's not going to lose its blundering humor! We'll save that for Lina and Gourry, shall we? ^.^ A couple things I'd like to mention: I chose the song because I think it could be from either Amelia's point, talking about what you're thinking, and waiting for the other person to come back. *shrug* Imagine what you want.

This chapter was pretty long, huh? Also, there's bold and Italic stuff because Shira taught me how to use HTML saving ^^; Thanks, Shira!

So, was this in character? I hope it was! I'm not very good at angsty Amelia…..once again, feedback in appreciated. Stay tuned! I have some updates on my bio page, too! Till the next chapter! ~*~Tams~*~ )


	10. To Err Is Human, To Ransack A Kitchen Is...

(**AN**: I hope you all like this chapter, because it was hard to write, what with Amelia and Zel's current situation left hanging. Lina and Gourry's, too, now that I think about it… ^_^ .~*~Tams~*~

****

NOTE: Destructive Sorceress pointed out to me that there is a fic called To Err Is Human, by Ichiban Victory…I just want you to know that I did NOT steal the title! The title goes along with this whole chapter, OK? Just so you all know. )

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Ten: To Err Is Human, To Ransack A Kitchen Is Divine

__

"So what so I've got a smile on

  
It's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head   
  
don't believe me

  
Don't you dare believe me 

  
when I say I've got it down   
  
everybody is just a stranger 

  
but that's the danger in going my own way 

  
I guess it's a price I have to pay 

  
still everything happens for a reason 

  
is no reason not to ask yourself if you are 

  
living it right."  


~ **Why Georgia, John Mayer**

Amelia was still sitting in that chair in the front Hall, watching with hazy blue eyes the colorful shadows cast by the setting sun on the stained glass windows. They created a million tiny rainbows on the marble floor. They were beautiful. She loved those windows.

Now, they seemed as empty to her as the man who'd walked past them a few hours ago, seemingly, never to return. They reminded her of him; they were cold, but from the wind hurtling against them from outside, not from cold hearts. They, at first glance, made one curious about them, they were colorful, but in the end were just sheets of painted glass. 

Zelgadis wasn't much different.

__

Funny, how things end up, she thought_. I thought Zelgadis-san was changing for the better. Then he got scared…yes, that's it, he's scared. He was scared of the things that might happen, because he wants to believe that he is a cold, heartless swordsman destined to be a lone wolf forever. That's the image he wants of himself, and nothing can change that…right?_

She covered her tear-stricken face with her hands, breathing in deeply. "I wish he'd just told me….why can't he just tell people what he feels? He didn't have as big of a problem with it before!" She leaned forward, resting her chin on her folded arms and letting her eyelids droop. "Why did he leave? Why did he do that?"

__

He's so…I'm so confused.

She traced the faint remnant of a burn mark on the table with her index finger, her mind drifting slowly into sleep mode. "I want to know why he did that…why he won't tell…me…I wish he were still here. I wish he were…I wish…" A quiet thump signaled that she'd fallen asleep.

~*~*~

"Done!"

Gourry took a few steps backwards to the door and peered around to look at his handiwork. He'd spent an hour and a half cleaning up Lina's room for her; the mirror sparkled, the floor was clean, the furniture was dusted, the bed was made—it was perfect!

He made sure the painting on the left of the door was perfectly straight, then smiled brightly. "_Now_ it's good."

WHAM!

In the split second during the "WHAM!", the door flew open, crashing into the wall with a loud, resounding "BOOM!", leaving an indent in the plaster and wood chips scattered on the now dusty floor. The painting went back to its jaunty, sideways position, and Gourry stared at the mess wrought by an annoyed looking Lina Inverse in the doorway. He was more amazed than upset at how his cleaning result could be brought to a dust-filled destruction in less than three-quarters of a second.

"Gourry!" Lina shouted, her fists clenched, making him jump a foot off the dirty floor. "I can't find Amelia anywhere! She's not in her room, the Ballroom, the Dining Room, anywhere!" Her fists went to rest on her hips as she stared at the cleaner half of the room. "What've you been doing in here, anyway?"

Gourry twiddled his thumbs and smiled in his naïve way. "Well, I thought, since you weren't feeling too well earlier, I ought to help you out a little and cheer you up!" He laughed nervously.

Surprisingly, Lina didn't hit him. She poked him instead. "What made you think I needed to be cheered up? (I was under the previous assumption that nothing could make you think that hard, anyway,)" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Well, I thought it would make you happy. It would make me feel better, too. And you were roadsick, like I said before." 

"Roadsick, huh?" Lina smirked, shaking her head. "It would make _you_ feel better? You're the most complacent person I've ever met, Gourry."

Gourry scratched the back of his head, his mouth in the shape of a thoughtful "o". "Complashent? What's that?"

__

That resulted in a somewhat lighter bonk on the head. "It means self-satisfied, idiot."

Gourry rubbed his head. "You know, Lina, I do know some things, like how you're feeling. Isn't that more important than knowing what some weird word like 'comprayshint' means?" He gave her an earnest look, and she looked a little taken aback, but folded her arms.

"If you know how I'm feeling, what am I feeling like now?" She stared straight at his eyes defiantly, but Gourry didn't falter.

"You're annoyed at me."

"So what?" she snapped, her eye twitching a little. "I feel like that more than half the time, anyway." She frowned at him, wearing a mean look. "Even you know that."

Gourry nodded solemnly. "But, you know, I pay attention sometimes…that's how I know what you're feeling like, and you weren't happy today. That makes _me_ unhappy." He folded his arms, perhaps in imitation of her. "I don't know what some things mean. But I know what you feel like, Lina. I've been around you way too long to know otherwise, and I hope you know that what you feel like matters a lot to me." 

"Well—" Lina began, struck by his simple (when I say simple, I mean _simple_) logic once again. "You—I think you have—oh, c'mon, stupid, we have to go find Amelia!" She yanked him out of the room by his upper arm and slammed the door, making the painting fall from the floor to the wall altogether.

~*~*~

Amelia, in a light, dreamless sleep state, felt a warm hand on her shoulder, prodding her gently.

"A little worse for wear, aren't we, Princess," a familiar voice stated with an amused tone.

Amelia's head shot up immediately, to see Lady Adara smiling calmly down at her, seated in the opposite chair. Her hand fell and rested on top of the other one as Amelia sat up drowsily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up straight. "I'm sorry….I fell asleep, I—"

Lady Adara held up a hand to quiet her. "No need to explain, Princess, I asked the staff to let you regain your yourself this morning, but you went to sleep rather late. There's no shame in still being tired." Lady Adara's serene smile made Amelia want to break down again; she felt as though she wouldn't be able to smile for a long time…her face fell as she stared at the table, unable to think of something to say. 

Lady Adara saw this immediately. 'Something the matter, Princess?"

Amelia didn't look up as she locked her fingers together in front of her. "Zelgadis-san…"

"Left?" Lady Adara's sympathy was genuine, it showed in her docile eyes. 

Amelia stared at her sorrowfully before resting her chin in her hands. "How did you know?"

Lady Adara shook her head. "My dear Princess, for one, I saw him earlier today. He looked very determined, but upset as well. And now I find you, sitting near the door, asleep, and now you're wearing the most melancholy face I've had the misfortune to see on so vibrant a girl as yourself, Princess." She looked right into Amelia's saddened eyes and said, "And I know it must be upsetting, not to mention the shock of finding out you've kissed him as well."

Amelia, in spite of being depressed, hadn't lost the ability to blush profusely. "H-How'd you know about _that_?" 

Lady Adara drew one of her secretive smiles. "Once again, Sir Greywords' face gave it away. When he came down from your room, he was turning that interesting shade of pink he has whenever something embarrasses him. And you were liable to have done something out of the blue, being under the influence of two glasses of wine." She chuckled lightly. "I knew that the only possible thing was that you'd kissed him. People, you could say, have their hearts not only on their sleeves, but also in their eyes. Next time you want to know what he's thinking, look at his face, Amelia, in his eyes."

The blush faded, and Amelia's expression was downcast once again. "Lady Adara, I don't think he—"

"_Adara_, my dear. I feel that formality, in this case, is wholly unnecessary. And I hope you won't find it out of disrespect when I call you Amelia; rather, I hope you find it acceptable in terms of friendship." Adara clasped Amelia's hand kindly. Amelia managed to raise her parted frown up to a small grin.

Adara released her hand and peered steadily at her face. "Now, continue, please."

Amelia drew in a slow breath. "La—Adara, I don't think he's coming back."

Adara cocked her head slightly to the side. "And why is that?"

"He left _yelling_ at me. He doesn't think he's human, and all he's going to focus on is getting a stupid cure! It's as if he doesn't care about me or Lina-san or Gourry-san, or what we'll all do. He was changing so much, and then he had to go and throw it all away, he threw what he could have had away!" Her voice cracked as she began to choke up, shutting her eyes tight to keep the tears down.

"Amelia…" Adara's soft voice broke through the quiet sobs. "It's healthier to let out your feelings. You know that. I wish Sir Greywords did, but right now, it's only you and me, so just let it out." Adara dragged her chair over to Amelia's side and patted her back lightly as Amelia sniffled.

"Now," began Adara quietly, "I'm going to tell you what I think. I think that even though what Sir Greywords did was indeed irrational, it has some logic to it."

Amelia's tearstained face looked up at her, pink and puzzled. 'You mean…you think what he did is alright?" She wiped her eyes and sat there, looking confused as ever. "How could it possibly be alright?" Her wide blue eyes looked as though she was contemplating a huge ordeal.

Adara smiled. "You know, you remind me just a little of your mother."

Amelia's head shot up to stare at Adara, who just nodded serenely, her eyes shining reminiscently. "Yes, she and I were nearly the same age, separated only by the difference of a couple years. She would talk to me at times, about her life, when she had just little problems that would confuse her…she'd get that very same look." 

Adara looked reflectively at Amelia, whose mouth was parted in something not too short of awe. "And she'd get that _other_ look afterwards, that silly look of dawning comprehension whenever I told her my answers." She folded her hands. "So I'll tell you now…Sir Greywords did act irrationally. But, as you may have heard, to err is human."

Amelia nodded slowly, eyes rimmed with interest.

"You were correct, Sir Greywords is indeed human. Do you know what makes up a human? Emotion. Want. Need. Thought. And…" she glanced at Amelia before finishing, "Especially fault."

"Fault?"

"Mm-hmm. Fault is a natural feature of a human being. We learn from fault, we correct our mistakes, we move on to what is hopefully a better decision on our part, having experienced being wrong due to fault. Fault is what helps us realize things. And emotion, that is what helps us to get over things, to see things. We express our decisions with emotion. They go hand in hand."

She glanced at Amelia to see her reaction, which was a quiet reverie, eyes on Adara at all times. She continued. 

"Obviously, or, at least I hope, Sir Greywords will learn from this fault. He is human, but he doesn't realize it yet because he is caught up in the belief that looks triumph over feelings. He is too focused on his body, rather than his heart. He believes that once he has attained a normal, human body, he will be like everyone else.

"What he doesn't know is that he is already like everyone else. The human body isn't something to be regarded as necessary to express yourself. It is merely where we keep our souls and minds, though some people take it to the farthest extent they ought not to take it to. The human heart is something to be kept healthy, and Sir Greywords is keeping his own heart in its own dark, depressing environment by leaving his friends.

"Now, in your case…" she gave the silent Amelia one of her secretive smiles, "I think Sir Greywords has something more in his heart for you, and he's been opening it up lately, until you kissed him. I believe that that experience was too much for him to handle as of yet, and he became scared of having someone so close and comfortable with him…Sir Greywords is the type that needs solace to focus on what he needs. He wants his cure so much that he has to separate himself from everyone in order to focus on getting it. Though I think that, if he found it, he would come straight to you." She sighed shortly and leaned back in her chair.

Amelia, who had been watching this one-sided discussion with awed eyes and a wide-open mouth, sat up straight. "I understand…he has to take things one at a time…" she sighed dramatically. "But I didn't mean to kiss him…not really…" She blushed again, twiddling her thumbs.

Adara gave a melodious laugh. "I'm sure that was the case, and I know it wasn't completely your fault. But Sir Greywords was still nervous about it. But, on another note…" she grinned slyly at Amelia, "I have a feeling….a hunch, if you will, that he cares more about you than he lets on. Maybe the whole reason he's searching for humanity is so he can share it with you."

Amelia blinked. "What?"

Lady Adara nodded solemnly, but with an amused twinkle in her eye. "Maybe why he wants a cure for a human body is so he _can_ be comfortable around you in particular. Men have that tendency; the need to be completely content in a situation. Then again, that's just my opinion." She chuckled again, her eyes still docile. "But Amelia, you should know what you have to do, now."

"I should?" Amelia was jarred out of a pensive wake as she turned to gaze at Adara. "What sh…what should I do?"

"Tell him how you feel. Tell him what I told you and make sure he knows that you only want him around."

Amelia was hesitant, but she looked the tiniest bit hopeful. "You mean, go find him?"

Adara nodded at once, her long silver/gray braid shaking. "Yes, go find him. I know you can. Besides, I'm quite sure Lady Lina is itching to get out of here," she finished, smiling graciously.

Amelia shook her head and smiled a genuinely happy smile. "Okay, Adara."

Then Adara gave her the sly smile again. "And don't forget to tell him you love him." She winked, chuckling.

"Right, don't forget to—huh?" Amelia was surprised, but pleasantly—yes, if she was so emotional about this situation, that was the explanation. She loved him. All the things Adara had been saying were true about herself as well, only on a different level—she hadn't known she'd loved him, she'd only thought of it as a particularly strong bond between the two. But if she was so upset over him, if the whirlwind of emotions was all over him, then—well, she was willing to let it go to that extreme of love.

She stood up and gazed thoughtfully at Adara. "How did you _know_ all of that, Adara?"

Another secretive smile. "I fell in love once. I had to figure it all out as well. Think of this as your getting off easily." 

Amelia nodded, and was just about to ask _who _she fell in love with, but just then, they both heard the crash of a vase, followed by a string of colorful curse words that won't be repeated if we want to keep this story rated at PG.

"That's Lina-san," said Amelia sheepishly.

That shattering of glass was followed by an indistinct question—then a loud smack and the hard thud of something falling sideways on the floor.

"And I'm guessing that's Sir Gabriev," finished Adara, shaking her head, the amused twinkle never leaving her eyes as Lina poked her head around the corner.

"Amelia!" she shouted, then disappeared behind the corner for a few seconds. Amelia blinked—until Lina appeared again, stomping and dragging, with her right hand, the long mane of golden hair from Gourry's lumpy head. Both of them watched, the only sound being Lina's grunts and the sound of Gourry's armor grinding against the marble floor.

When Lina reached them, she dropped the mane and let Gourry's head fall to the floor with a softer thud than before, putting her hands on her hips. "Where have you _been_, Amelia? Oh, hi, Adara," she gave an offhand wave to the elder woman before turning back to Amelia. "I swear, I have been looking for you for three HOURS! Do you know how long I had to lug this jellyfish around??" She jerked her thumb down at the unconscious form of a lumpy Gourry, twitching on the floor.

Amelia had to stifle a giggle, in spite of it all. "I'm sorry, Lina-san…I fell asleep after—" She looked down at Adara, and Lina looked back and forth between the both of them, frowning.

"What? After what? What did I miss? What's going on that no one told me? This doesn't happen very often!" To her side, Gourry gave a low groan. Adara nodded at Amelia, who exhaled shortly.

"After…after Zelgadis-san left."

Lina folded her arms, raising an eyebrow and beginning to take on that usual dangerous look. "Left to go where? Some wimpy diplomat thing? Because if that's the case, there is something seriously wrong with him." She sighed plaintively. "I knew his laying around and doing nothing wouldn't come to any good! Lazyass."

Amelia took the opportunity to let a large sweatdrop roll down the side of her forehead. "Uh, Lina-san, that's not it. He's left…to go find his cure."

"He left in such a rush," added Adara. "He was furious, yelling at the Princess, but I'm sure he—"

"He _WHAT_?!" Lina's eyes widened to their fullest extent, filling with the fiery, dangerous glint she got whenever she spied a bandit gang, a look she hadn't had in over a month. "That big, stupid—he left without—that damn—_I'm gonna KILL him_, I _swear_—" 

Gourry sat up, wincing, and rubbed his head as he looked up at the three women. "Oh, hi, Amelia! Hi, Adara! Hi, Lina with a really hard fist and scary look in her eye!"

Lina chose to glare at him while uttering a low, threatening growl in her throat to show her irritation. Luckily, Gourry backed off, chuckling nervously as he stood up, dusting himself off. "So…is this a party or something? Where's Zel?"

Lina's eyes narrowed even further. "Stone Boy decided to go off and look for his cure again without saying a damn thing about it." She looked over at Amelia. "Well?"

Amelia blinked, staring back at Lina. "Well…what?"

Lina threw out her arms in frustration. "_Well_, are you coming? We're going to find Zel!"

Amelia nodded at once. "Of course, Lina-san, that's what I was trying to tell you, I'm going to find—wait, you want to come too?"

"Well, obviously we are!" (She made no effort to ask Gourry's opinion.) "Zelgadis Greywords might think he's something else, but he is nothing compared to Lina Inverse! Besides," she added, her tone rising. "Do you know how long it's been since I've traveled? Do you know how long it has been since these hands touched dirt? _How long it's been since I FRIED something_?!" She grabbed Amelia's shoulders and shook her slightly. "I need to get on the road, again! Gourry said it himself!"

Gourry, for whatever reason, looked immensely proud of himself. "Yeah, I told Lina she was roadsick, because I know what she's feel—" He was cut off by another blow to the head. "Itaiiii…"

"Just because you finally accomplished original thought doesn't mean you can interrupt me." Lina clapped her hands together and clapped Amelia on the back. "Well, come on! Help me get my stuff, because we are OUT of here!"

Amelia looked surprised. "For how long?"

Lina smirked, her triumphant smirk that Amelia hadn't seen for a while. "For however long I _want_ to be gone! You might be able to spend some time in a dress learning how to eat soup with the right fork, but not Lina Inverse! Lina Inverse goes out. Lina Inverse does some badass magic. Lina Inverse gets her bandits, and Lina Inverse gets her gold." Lina struck a pose. "I'm ready to be Lina Inverse again!"

Amelia grinned and shot her fist into the air. "Alright, Lina-san! That's the way a warrior of justice thinks!" This resulted in sweatdrops from Lina and Gourry, but Amelia chose to ignore them. She threw her arms around Lady Adara, who had been watching this proclamation unfold for a few silent minutes, and was now pleasantly surprised. "Thank you so much, Adara! If it wasn't for you—"

"Don't thank me now, Princess," said Adara, standing up and smoothing out the creases of her dress, smiling. "You have somewhere to go and someone's heart to get back. I suggest you get going, because it's almost sunset." She gestured out the window to the beautiful rays of gold and red coming in through the stained glass windows.

"C'mon, Amelia, we have to get my clothes! I'm not traveling in this thing," she said, tapping the bodice of her summer gown. "Let's go!"

~*~*~

Only fifteen minutes later, Amelia, Lina, Gourry, and Adara stood outside the palace, just before the wrought iron gates. Lina was hugging herself, a genki grin on her face; she was back in her sorceress garb, and couldn't have looked happier. "Yes! I'm me again! No more dresses, no boring cooks, no more Recburg's dirty looks!"

Adara had to laugh at that. "Oh, don't think of him too little, Lady Lina."

"Just Lina," corrected Lina, hands on her hips in another triumphant pose, her cape swooshing in the breeze. "I don't want people thinking I'm some wussy little princess. No offense, Amelia."

"None taken, Lina-san." Amelia was in her own traveling apparel again as well; she took a few steps around to get the feeling back of moving easily; _Lina-san is right_, she thought. _It feels good to be back on the road! _

Gourry watched the two of them with a content grin. "C'mon, you two, let's go and get Zel!"

"Right!" shouted Lina, her fist in the air. "We're gonna get that stupid chimera boy back and toast some bandits! What do you say?!"

"I say," began a drawling voice, "That you are not going to do any of the above." The three of them whirled around to see Sir Recburg, the infamous mustache twitching as usual. Lina bared her teeth and thrust a fist in his direction.

"Don't interfere, Gramps! We're on our way to get Zel back. I'm not stopping for you."

Amelia took a step forward. "Excuse me, Sir Recburg…" Sir Recburg didn't move from his position.

"I know you've been trying very hard to help my friends with their lessons, and we all appreciate, even if some of us don't show it. (Lina snorted.) But I think you should let us make our own decisions, because we can't stay locked up in the castle forever, even if we are part of royalty. I believe that if we are truly going to be warriors of Justice, we should be able to spread fairness around instead of remaining in one place!" She smiled brightly, while Lina and Gourry both fell over.

Adara went silently over to Sir Recburg and whispered something in his ear, then rested an elegant hand on his shoulder. "Let them go." 

Sir Recburg began to stutter. "But—they—I can't just let—" He clenched his fists together, and Lina resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him as he released his grip. "F-Fine…but as soon as you return, I expect a demonstration of which salad fork is which!!"

Lina waved him away. "Yeah, yeah, get on with your life, Gramps." Sir Recburg started to protest, but Adara pushed him gently towards the door, which he went inside, muttering.

Lina began running immediately, clenching Gourry's arm and dragging him down the steps, waving a hurried goodbye to Adara. "We'll see you later, when we get our stupid stone boy back!!" Amelia giggled and hugged Adara before rushing down the steps with more bounce in her step.

"Wait up, Lina-san, Gourry-san!" Amelia caught up to the both of them, and they stopped, out of breath, to wait for her.

"Hurry it up, Amelia!" said Lina, balling up her fists. "I wanna get out there! By the way…" she gestured to an _extremely _large, lumpy sack waiting by a nearby clump of trees. "I brought some food for the trip."

Gourry nodded in agreement. Amelia blinked. "Um….great…Lina-san…"

"Now," said Lina enthusiastically. "Thanks to Adara, I can do some of my badass magic!"

Gourry shook his head as Amelia giggled again. "I'm sure, Lina-san. We should thank Adara later. She does have a gift for handling Sir Recburg, but I'm not surprised, what with Adara being his wife."

Lina stopped short. "WHAT?!"

~*~*~

Meanwhile, back at the palace…

"Sir Recburg!" A short, squat messenger was sprinting towards Sir Recburg and Adara. He stopped a few feet from them, gasping for breath.

"What's the matter?" Sir Recburg twitched, as though he couldn't handle any more disarray.

The messenger looked up fearfully. "Um…I think you should see this, Sir. In the…in the kitchen."

Sir Recburg gave Adara one swift glance before running (still in a respectively formal manner) off to the kitchens. Five minutes later, he arrived to find the kitchen in ruins, as though pillaged by an army of bandits.

"**_LIIINAAA INVERSE_**!!!!"


	11. Absence Makes The Heart Grow Stupider

(**AN**: Well, all I can say is that it's a miracle I've been able to sit down and write at all, considering the start of school. It took me so LONG to write this…I wrote a little bit each day, and this is how it turned out…I'm really hoping I get more reviews than I did for the last chapter, so please do so, and check the ending AN for more! ~*~Tams~*~

By the way, anything in italics after the song lyrics is Zel's thoughts…there are a lot of them. ^^)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Eleven: Absence Makes The Heart Grow Stupider

__

"I remember that time you told me, you said,

'Love is touching souls'

Surely you touched mine

'Cause part of you pours out of me

In these lines from time to time

Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

Oh I could drink a case of you, darling

Still, I'd be on my feet

I would still be on my feet."

~ **A Case of You, Joni Mitchell**

It's strange how people move…when they are anticipating something grand, they tend to hurry their stride in hopes of reaching their destination as soon as possible. When their mood is melancholic, they are anything but swift; their feet are slowed to a drag and it seems to take forever just to arrive beyond the horizon. When they are lost, however, their thoughts are on one thing and one thing only, and suddenly their steps have taken them somewhere they never intended to find.

Any observant individual could tell immediately which one of those roles Zelgadis was playing. But it could only be if that individual was up close. From afar, Zelgadis' look was normal; an indifferent frown, but from a nearer vantage point, it was a fierce visage, with eyes iced over from anger. 

__

Such a fool…_to think, the way I was acting…!! _His thoughts were racing. _How stupid of me…playing the part of some lovesick prince. _He stared intently into his palms, his stride unfailing, and chose to ignore that word, lovesick. _What _happened _back there? It must have been the cabin fever getting to my head…getting pampered for a month can do that to a person. But…still…_he clenched the fists by his sides. …_What happened…is in the past. It was an effect of confinement. That's it._

"Of course it was," he said aloud. "What else could it be?" _Perhaps infatuation, in Amelia's case— _hepaused. _No. _He wanted to be who he was before…he wanted to forget that ridiculous side of himself that had taken over in the last month. He wanted to be heartless. He didn't want things to change. He didn't want to change to that absurdly cheery person he'd been transforming into. Change meant losing focus. How would he become the Heartless Swordsman again? How _could_ he do that? _Forget Amelia, _he thought. _She's the one who caused this whole damn mess. I wouldn't be storming off without a lead if she hadn't gotten me so inattentive…so unfocused…so…so…confused—_

He felt the ground beneath his feet become smooth all of a sudden, and his eyes went back into focus to see a looming stone temple in front of him. It looked well into its age, covered with moss and vines stretching over the windows, but sturdily built. That was, in some odd way, comforting, as nothing in his life had been so completely rock solid (no pun intended) during the past month. Zelgadis narrowed his eyes, and his fists relaxed. _Get to work, Zelgadis. This is no time to be thinking about…things in the past. That's all over. _

He took a few swift steps into the cobwebbed doorway as a gust of wind blew his hood back, and immediately, he was surrounded by darkness.

"Lightning."

The sphere of light flashed across the smooth, marble encased wall, casting a reflection on Zelgadis' frigid-looking face. His eyes, dark with coldness, flickered and surveyed the room before them. 

It was an enormous, but somewhat peculiar looking room, consisting of a floor that was made with cobblestones of mismatched tans and grays. The walls were the smooth, slick material he'd seen before, swirling with amber streaks in a sea of pearl white, but until now, Zelgadis hadn't noticed that they weren't walls at all; they were a strange sort of watery film, reflecting every band of light across the room to the other walls. This made it sort of difficult for Zelgadis to see when he looked directly at it, so he turned sideways to gaze at it from the corner of his eye. It was moving with a wavering pattern, much like a sidewinder snake moves across a desert.

It wasn't extremely amazing; there wasn't even any way to see through the other side of the film, but it made Zelgadis oddly curious nonetheless. He felt very tempted to touch this remarkable looking wall, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say he was easily amused by such a simple thing…his hand inched towards the filmy cover, until the very tip of his pointer finger touched the liquid barrier—

In one split second, Zelgadis felt a violent jerk around his stomach, and was instantaneously pulled forwards, pitching headfirst through the barrier, landing hard and flat on his stomach, which was a big impact for even his stone body. He groaned, lifting his head up from the now wooden floor (completely disregarding the fact that some of his hair had broken off and stuck to the floorboard much like a porcupine's quills) to see a much different room. 

Before he had much time to examine it, he heard a bored, feminine voice sigh, and looked upward to see a somewhat short girl, wearing a priestess-like attire of violet shaded robes. She shook her head, her long brown hair streaked with different shades of blonde, a length that went down to her knees in elaborate curls, flipping upwards, not even looking away from the orb her hands were nearly clasped around. "You should've used the door." 

Her tone was, surprisingly, almost singsong, and it irritated Zelgadis' mood even more. He pushed himself up off the floor with his hands, dusting off his cloak. The girl was staring straight down at the orb in front of her, with a gaze of unblinking concentration, as her fingers hovered above the glass orb, in which was swirling fog. He watched her for a couple of minutes, and she didn't seem to be doing anything, until he noticed that her fingers seemed to be controlling the movement of the mist inside the orb. 

He watched the girl concentrate for a few minutes; she was completely silent during them, until Zelgadis gave an impatient sigh. "Hey, you—" He'd tapped her on the shoulder, and without even one movement from the girl, Zelgadis was flung backwards into the stone wall, as though he'd been lifted up and thrown by a giant. He slid down the wall, pieces of brick and stone crumbling down behind him. Twitching, he looked up to see (and this enraged him even more) that the girl hadn't moved at all from her spot.

He stood up swiftly, bits of rubble tumbling down from the folds of his cloak. He opened his mouth to ask her, in a hopefully loud enough tone, what the hell she was doing, but before he could, the quiet humming radiating from the orb stopped, and her hands fell to her sides. She turned to face him in a flurry of purple robes, making a soft swishing sound, and as Zelgadis observed the short girl's face, which had been turned from him before, he saw that the girl's eyes were a striking, crystalline blue, a color close to that of a sapphire. He noticed that she bore a striking resemblance to someone he'd seen before…if only he could put his finger on it…! Ah, well.

He pulled his hood back up by instinct, and folded his arms in a businesslike manner, looking as though he held no particular interest in her. "I was looking for something."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "And you decided to look for it in the wall?"

Zelgadis glared. "Well, it wasn't much of a normal wall, if you paid attention to its appearance. Anyway, I was looking for—"

"Let me guess…" The girl held up a slender finger to silence him. "You have a problem, and you think that going to the nearest temple will help you. It's either your personality, your looks, or something that has to do with the opposite sex. Now, which is it?" 

Zelgadis stared at her, but answered, "It's….it's my looks. Not that it's any of your business."

The girl laughed, mockingly. "Ah, I see now! With that attitude, it must be all _three_!" 

Zelgadis balled up a fist, with his other hand inching towards his sword. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but—"

"Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself to a complete stranger!" The girl gasped in mock concern, clutching her face, and then smiled, folding her arms as well. "I'm the head shrine maiden at this temple…my name is Kimirah. And, by the way, don't even try to think of pulling your sword on me," she said dryly, gesturing towards his sword. "There've been other frustrated young men such as yourself that tried that."

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes in annoyance as his grip on the hilt relaxed. "Oh? And what exactly did you do to _them_?" he asked stiffly.

Kimirah smiled a smile that didn't quite reach those crystalline eyes. "Oh, I'll leave that for you to figure out." She gave a laugh that seemed to suggest anything but mercy, and swept past him towards the wall he'd been thrown into. As Zelgadis watched, feeling more frustrated than before, she began to stroke the liquid-like wall with her two forefingers. 

"What are you doing…?"

Kimirah paid him no attention. She continued to stroke the filmy sea of white/amber…the fifth time she touched it, it made a sharp, whistling noise, much like the noise a sword makes when pulled out of its sheath, and her finger continued down to the floor. After she'd done so, and the whistling sound had stopped, she took a few steps and waited….Zelgadis looked back and forth, from her to the wall, and scoffed. "What was the point of that?"

No sooner than the words had come out of his mouth, a long, jagged, silver line appeared where Kimirah's finger had traced the wall. The area around the line began to crackle with a thunderous noise and bright blue sparks. A few minutes passed as Kimirah stared steadily at the line, until she flung out her left hand at it…the crackling died down, and the line split, revealing a passageway to the room from before.

Kimirah grinned at him brightly. "Go ahead! It's very simple."

Zelgadis scowled heavily and muttered, hesitantly, as though he wanted to say something before he went but couldn't think of a thing, so he stalked past her, his eyes narrowed down to slits as he passed through the portal. 

He felt the solid ground again, and looked around to see the familiar liquid-like white/amber walls, and was very cautious to keep at least a five-foot distance from them. 

"Wary, aren't we?" 

Zelgadis turned to find the smirking shrine maiden coming from the portal, as she clasped her hands in the folds of her robes while the portal zipped back to it's normal appearance. He glanced at her with a frown. "How'd you do that?"

"This temple is sacred. There are many secrets that dwell in the confines of this shrine, and ultimate protection is necessary to keep out unsuspecting intruders, such as yourself, Mister…?"

"Graywords….Zelgadis Graywords…."

Kimirah's mouth suddenly changed into the shape of an "o", and the look in her crystalline eyes was slightly surprised. However, she recovered from this strange expression to reply, "Zelgadis. I see." She seemed to be observing him closely, and under the uncomfortable gaze of those piercing sapphire irises, Zelgadis frowned even deeper.

"What kind of shrine maiden are you?"

Kimirah chuckled, stroking her chin thoughtfully with a slender hand. "What do you mean by that?"

Zelgadis looked at her somewhat scornfully. "Well…I have five reasons for that question."

"Go ahead."

He began ticking off the reasons on his fingers. "For one, you seem to be more powerful than other shrine maidens I've met…you're in charge of the entire temple… you must be slightly in tune with psychic power, because you were reading a crystal orb, and you appeared to have the abilities of a Seer." His hands fell to his sides as he finished.

Kimirah blinked. "Didn't you have a fifth reason?" she asked calmly.

"Oh, yeah…this may just be my opinion, and this doesn't go for most shrine maidens, but you're also a bit of a smart-ass…"

He caught a quick image of Kimirah shooting him a look of venom before he felt something heavy crash down on the top of his head, sending him six inches further down than the floor was supposed to go. Beginning to feel a migraine coming on from all the head injuries, he lifted his head up again. Kimirah still hadn't moved from her spot, but the muscles around her eyes were twitching, as though it was taking all of her willpower to keep from inflicting more bodily harm onto him.

"You were almost one hundred percent correct! I'm a more powerful shrine maiden _because _of my psychic ability. I _am _in training to be a Seer, besides head of this shrine, _and_…" She knelt down almost to his level. "I am _not_ a smart-ass."

"I'll take your word for it…" Zelgadis was sure to tone down the sarcasm drip to a minimum as he got back on his feet, stepping over the dent in the floor. "Anyway…I came here to look for a cure for a chimeric curse. Do you have a library?"

Kimirah nodded, her nerves temporarily soothed. "I'll have to lead you to it, though, if you don't want to go poking around in any more of the protective walls. We'll start by going forward." She looked sincerely serious, but there was no way Zelgadis could take it as anything other than jest.

"As long as I'm not bothered…this is important and I need to stay focused." _Focus is all that matters right now_, he thought, as he turned on his feet to begin walking towards the doorway; he thought he heard her murmur softly, "Are you sure?" and looked over his shoulder at her, but she was following him calmly and attentively. He shrugged to himself and kept walking.

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

It was quite a few hours later, near sundown, when Zelgadis had gotten to the fifth shelf of books. He sat amongst the piles of yellowed pages and age-old scrolls, skimming down a page of shrine reverence rules and wishing he had a large pot of coffee, because he'd be able to down the thing in one gulp right about now. 

He heard a rustling noise near the doorway, and a polite but obvious cough. He glanced up to see Kimirah folding her arms over her chest, and he sighed in exasperation. "I'm working."

Kimirah shrugged. "Alright, but I suggest you take a break. How many shelves have you done?"

"Five," replied Zelgadis absently, reaching over to set a book on top of the shortest pile. "Why?"

"Oh!" she said cheerfully. "That means you should get something to eat. You _do_ have about…" she calculated swiftly on her fingers. "Four hundred forty-five shelves left. Probably eight hundred ninety, if you're talking in terms of checking both sides of the shelves." She smiled innocently at the sight of Zel's thunderstruck face as he dropped the book he'd been holding.

He clenched a fist quietly. "You could have told me….so I would have had a simpler way…to get _through_ all of the damn books…" His eyelid twitched, but Kimirah was undisturbed.

"Oh, don't worry about it! You need something in your system after all the walking and talking and searching and annoying…"

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "Annoying?"

The shrine maiden ignored his remark. "Now, let's think…" She gazed absentmindedly at the high ceiling. Zelgadis grimaced. It was starting to really piss him off, the way she took things so lightly, even if she did it without a prior thought. 

That, of course, was until she announced her suggestion. "I know! Coffee! Of course, it's unhealthy to be addicted…but nothing will lift a soul up, or keep them awake, at least, like coffee! I'll be back in a minute." With that, she turned on foot with a "_whoosh" _of her skirts and headed towards her crystal orb room. 

Zelgadis slumped against the wooden back of the shelf. No matter that he would be served coffee free of charge in a few minutes…things hadn't been going as well as he'd thought they would. He was nowhere _near _finding something even remotely related to chimeras, and was beginning to think he should have at least tried to locate a temple with a suitable library instead of running out so recklessly…

Then again, this was his only choice.

Wasn't it?

"I'm back!" The amazingly cheery voice of Kimirah broke into his brief train of thought as he lifted his drooping head to see her standing directly next to him, holding a large, steaming pot and a mug. Zelgadis took the cup from her slowly after she'd filled it with coffee.

"Thanks…" he said, cupping his hands around the mug and inhaling the satisfying scent of the strong, dark brew. If anything could soothe his nerves, it was coffee. _Thank God for coffee. _He took a long sip and sighed.

Kimirah watched him sitting there with a look that was quite contrary to his previous mood and wondered if all chimeras were so very _strange_! She shrugged and cleared her throat again. "If you don't mind, Zelgadis….I have quite a lot of work to do. As I told you before, I'm in training to be a Seer as well as head shrine maiden here, so I'll need to finish what I was doing when you interrupted." She smiled.

For such a strange person, she was remarkably bland, Zelgadis thought to himself. He nodded slowly up at her and sipped his coffee again. "Fine with me."

"Well, I'll be at work all night, and I'm quite sure you'll want to leave before then." Her face was pleasant, but Zelgadis was sure she was trying hard not to snigger at the situation. "So help yourself to the knowledge in these books, and do come again if you feel the need. Oh, and next time use the door like a normal person." 

Zelgadis blinked again. "Yeah, sure…." He watched her turn with a flurry of skirts again, as she strode out the door. _Such a bother. _Sip sip. He continued flipping through _Encyclopedia of Curses, _of course, with no further luck, but he kept looking, forging the idea in his head that this temple had nothing to offer that would be of any use…

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

Two more hours has passed, and Zelgadis's patience had been worn from finger thick to paper-thin. He threw down the last book in the "C" section and it landed on the floor, bits of the yellowed parchment fluttering to the dusty ground. He tied his sword back at his waist, threw his hood over his head, and began stalking out the back door of the library, which led out into a lush garden.

He stopped, still fuming, in front of a large, stone fountain with a life-size statue of a shrine maiden from many ages past. The fountain was covered rather artistically with a collection of vines, which twisted all around the statue and on most of the forest floor, giving the garden a hunter green aura. The group of large willow trees towering over the area gave it the look of an enclosed grove. It was a simple place for thought.

But Zelgadis had no more room for thought. His head ached from a storm of anger and frustration, and in that moment, looking out at the tranquil surroundings, he felt as though he were being torn apart from the inside. He clutched his head for a second, and the next, his fist had landed on the wall of the fountain, cracking the stone enclosure, and the water began to spill out from the miniature hole. But he didn't care. The temple had been of no help, and that only raised his temper even more.

__

Oh, too bad…you'll have to pay for that. He heard an annoyingly familiar female voice sigh from…the shadows? He whirled around, his eyes darting from corner to corner, but finding nothing.

__

What…? Where are you? He thought, only to hear the same slightly blasé voice reply, _Look up._

He stared up. Only the green canopy of leaves. He balled his hand into a fist. "Quit fooling around, damn you!" he said loudly, causing the birds in the trees to scatter into the skies.

__

Language, language, Zelgadis, came the reply. _I was only kidding. Don't you remember me telling you of my psychic ability?_

Zelgadis released his grip. The fountain water was still spilling out quietly beneath his feet. _Yes…_he thought, understanding now. _You're in my head._

Correct! said the cheerful voice of Kimirah. _Such a clever man! I was wondering if you'd fall for that again. Many have run off screaming when they hear voices here. Of course, I never told _them _I was speaking telekinetically in their minds. Silly fools. But such fun! _Zelgadis heard a triumphant giggle and clenched his teeth.

__

Are you going to rant on in my head, or do you have something to say of importance before I leave this stupid temple? He glared up at the canopy of leaves as though she could see him from there. _I have things to do, Kimirah. Say what you want and leave me alone._

So serious…have you thought of anger management? Because from the looks of my precious fountain, you could use it. An obnoxious chuckling followed her suggestion.

Zelgadis folded his arms, his eyes still narrowed. _What do you _want_!?_

Very well, on with business. I thought I should talk to you before you storm out again. 

Zelgadis blinked. _Again?_

Mm-hmm! came the reply. _I know you had something of the sort on your mind when you came. Actually, I knew everything on your mind._

Zelgadis scoffed. _You read minds, so what? What would you know about my past?_

A lot, actually! Or, at least, I should say, recent parts of it? Kimirah sounded smug, from what Zelgadis could hear.

__

…Would you happen to be a Mazoku? In answer to that, he felt a sharp smack at the right side of his head, as though Kimirah were actually there.

__

Of course not, you stupid boy! I have psychic ability, remember? That means I can mimic hitting you, and that action will happen to you if I want it to. And don't you forget it! Kimirah's voice huffed.

I doubt I'll be able to, Zelgadis thought, glancing apprehensively to his right. _So that means you heard everything I was thinking_ before?

__

Uh-huh.

Zelgadis nodded somewhat weakly_. Ah._

Now, anyway. I've heard of your travels, Zelgadis. How you aided in the defeat of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. How you and your friends sought the Claire Bible without relent. How you helped in the battles against numerous Mazoku and Dark Lords. All with that sorceress, Lina Inverse, and Gourry Gabriev…and the princess of Seyruun, as well. She accented the last part of her sentence.

Zelgadis sat on the remaining part of the fountain wall, when all the water had drained out through the hole he created, knowing he was in for a long lecture of some sort. _Yes._

Kimirah continued. _Don't ask me how, because besides my abilities, you lot are quite famous in more than one town. _She chuckled lightly. _And I heard of your recent knighthood into Seyruun Court._

Zelgadis's stomach dropped a little. _I see you lost no time researching the past three years of my life._

Now, just wait a minute, said Kimirah irritably. _That doesn't mean I've been stalking you. But I know that you left the Court just today, didn't you?_

Yes…Zelgadis answered slowly.

__

Why was that?

You think I would tell you? Zelgadis scoffed again. _Think again. If all you're doing is prying into my personal life, then forget it. I'm out of here. _He began proceeding towards the wrought-iron gate of the garden at a moderately swift pace, wanting nothing more than to get out of the stupid temple.

But Kimirah didn't quit. _Oh, of course, you wouldn't want to talk about Amelia._

Zelgadis stopped so quickly he nearly stumbled forwards into the dirt. _What do you care about Amelia?! _He thought angrily. _What do you know?_

You seem to be afraid, said Kimirah.

__

Why in HELL would I be afraid?

Because you know nothing about handling love, she answered shortly. When Zelgadis didn't respond, she continued. _You still have her bracelet?_

How do you…? Zelgadis's voice went off track as he self-consciously pulled the bracelet from his inside cloak pocket. Even though Amelia had given it to him a seemingly long time ago, it was still there, still hidden away in the folds of his cloak…she'd given it to him shortly before he went off in search of his cure the first time. Then he and Lina and Gourry had ended up together again, and of course went to drag Amelia along for the ride.

__

Big surprise, he thought, ignoring the fact that Kimirah was still listening. 

__

Yes, you kept it, didn't you? Even after you both ended up on the same road, together again…even after getting knighted….even after you came here. How cute! Kimirah's laugh was echoing through his head.

"What's your point? I nearly forgot it was there!" he said aloud again, and then thought about what he'd said. _Nearly?_

Yes, nearly…sighed Kimirah. _You see, it is something that Amelia nearly forgot about as well, but only for a short while. Amelia never forgot about you. She never forgot about the bracelet. Or the promise, for that matter. _

Well, it's better that she does now, anyway. Zelgadis's inner voice was bitter.

Kimirah's voice was softer, this time. _But she hasn't._

She hasn't…? I stormed out of the palace. I yelled at her….for what she said…stupid girl. Yes, she's just a little girl!! A stupid little girl with stupid ideas!!!

Kimirah replied, softly, but determined and deliberate. _But even if you think she's a stupid little girl…underneath, she's not so stupid to you. She's not so little anymore, that's for sure. _

Zelgadis let out a frustrated groan. _What are you getting at?_

You know what I'm getting at, silly! Kimirah didn't sound any more cheerful even when calling him silly. Her voice was still stern. _First of all, all the absences you've taken from one another haven't mattered. In fact, they've made you closer. You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder._

Zelgadis scoffed. _Hmmph. Well, in my case, it made me stupid. I shouldn't have come back, with all that ridiculous knighting business. _

But you came back. Kimirah's reply was deliberate. _During this whole month, you've been seeing her with new eyes. She's more grown up, and you've seen that. She's also seen you for the true person you are, under that rocky head of yours. Of course, she knew most of that before this month. That's what she's been trying to tell you._

What do you mean? Zelgadis couldn't help but sound puzzled, however, in an equally irritated way.

__

You're scared to see with your new eyes, because you don't know what they'll see.

What the hell…?

Kimirah nodded matter-factly, even though he couldn't see._ What they see is love._

(WHEW!! You know how LONG that took me? That's the longest chapter yet! Okay, I hope that wasn't too confusing for you, and I hope it wasn't too OOC. I hope you liked it, because I'm trying to keep true to the humor genre! More to come, I promise! ~*~Tams~*~)


	12. The Dream And The Ice Cube

(**AN**: I am deeply sorry for such a long wait! But I'm back! …Again. Much thanks goes out to Shira. ^^)

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Twelve: The Dream And The Ice Cube

__

"It has gotten to my head

Permeates the path I tread

But I tread, I'm moving on

In a new happy song

I can sing about the night

How my tunnel without light

Led me to the other side

Where the sky is blue."

~ **Moving On, Sixpence None The Richer**

It was getting louder by the second. She was hearing someone yell, and it the volume was getting louder, echoing off of the walls. All she could see was black, and all she could hear was the voice…the voice of…

"_Let me go…_

I don't feel anything…!!"

She felt rough hands shoving her away.

"NOTHING!"

Hadn't she heard this before…?

Then she caught a trace…. a flash of blue. For one fleeting moment, Amelia saw his face. Zelgadis' angry face…his cold, blue eyes…the mouth clenched in frustration…a large red tomato headed straight for her—

…. Tomato?

"Heads up, Amelia!"

The dark world vanished before Amelia's eyes, and a second later, her vision was blurred by something wet, gooey, and red. She sat up, wiping the mush off of her face as Gourry grinned sheepishly and crawled over to her.

"Sorry 'bout that, Amelia…" He pressed a handkerchief into her hand and sat back on his knees as Amelia dabbed at her face. Lina was sitting cross-legged, with her arms folded across her chest and her head shaking in disbelief on the opposite side of them.

"There's some tomato in your hair, Amelia," she pointed out, helped Amelia to pick the seeds out. "Gourry doesn't have much of an arm when it comes to throwing anything smaller than a sword. Nor does he have a clue when it's time to stop pigging out on the food supply," she added, shooting him a disapproving look.

Gourry shrugged. "Not to mention I was really aiming for _you_, Lina…"

Amelia giggled helplessly into her palms as Lina dug another tomato from the diminished sack of food and launched it towards Gourry's head, giving his blonde mane an orange-y look. Amelia clambered over to Gourry to help him clean off and looked over to Lina. "What have you two been doing, Lina-san?"

Lina stuffed her cloak into a ball at the foot of the log as a makeshift pillow and leaned back to relax on it. "After you fell asleep, we got a little hungry…" She gestured to the sack of food behind her, which seemed to have considerably decreased in size while Amelia was asleep. 

"So we made some sandwiches. Correction," she said, sighing, "We _tried_ to make some sandwiches. It started with me taste-testing one of the sandwiches and it ended in a tomato fight."

Amelia blinked. "A tomato fight?" As long as she had known Lina, and as long as Lina had been known for crisping bands of thieves and saving the world from complete and utter destruction, Amelia had never known Lina to be the kind whom was into fighting with fruits, even if half of her life _was_ devoted to food. "Really, Lina-san?"

Lina nodded solemnly. "Which is how we woke you up."

"There," said Gourry suddenly, flicking a remaining tomato seed from his fingers and looking at Lina. "If we wanna find Zel, we should probably get some rest first. Then we could head out as soon as we wake up."

Lina clapped her hands together. "Great, now I can get some sleep. Even if it's not on a feather bed, I'll appreciate it all the same." 

Gourry smiled. "I thought you might, Lina. Good night." He nodded at Amelia as a similar gesture and crawled into his tent.

Amelia stared back at Lina in puzzlement. "You're treating him awfully nice, Lina-san…I mean, considering how…not cheerful you've been lately." She cleared her throat nervously.

"Yeah, well…" Lina looked away for a moment. "It's not every day you get a pep talk from Gourry Gabriev."

"Gourry-san gave you a pep talk?"

Lina smiled, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. "Not really! Anyhow, I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. 'Night." She collapsed on her knees and began to head into her tent. Amelia bit her lip and watched until Lina was almost completely hidden by the flap.

"Lina-san, wait!"

"What is it Ame—" Lina turned behind her to look up at Amelia and bonked her head on the tree directly to the right of her tent. "Itai!…(sigh)…What _is_ it, Amelia?" she asked irritably, massaging her temple.

Amelia drew in her breath and decided to be blunt. "Do you think Zelgadis-san will come back with us?"

Lina sat on her heels. "Why not? I've got plenty of reasons for him to come back. One is my magic. One is myself. Both of those combined are enough for me."

Amelia fiddled with her sleeve. Lina's confidence in her violent takeover methods was not exactly the most comforting thing to encounter. "I mean, he's angry at me. You didn't hear what we said to each other…"

Lina softened a bit when Amelia looked up at her with almost watery eyes. "Look, Amelia…" She scooted closer to the younger girl. "I know you think he's really unforgiving. But if you really think about it, he's not that bad. And the guy would do anything for you if he'd admit to it." Lina grinned triumphantly. "You've made sure of that in the past."

"I guess so…what was Zelgadis-san like when you first met him, Lina-san?" Amelia watched Lina's face turn from happy to vaguely reminiscent. 

"Let me put it this way…he was an ice cube." Amelia had to laugh at that one.

"But really, Amelia, even back then you could tell he was a good guy. I mean, once you got past the whole rock on rock, kidnap-for-ransom thing…" She looked at Amelia with a furious sort of pride. "You'll bring him back. I know you will."

Amelia smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Lina-san…I really, really hope you're right."

"Me too. Because if I'm not, I'll have to burn his ass." With that, Lina said a quick goodnight and crawled exhaustedly into her tent.


	13. Love Is Not Perfect It's More Like Coffe...

****

(AN: Believe it or not, I'm really trying to finish this gosh-darn fic. So just hang on a bit longer. This chapter begins with the two last sentences of chapter eleven, just so you know where we left off. They're in italics, as are Kimirah's thoughts and Zel's thoughts, by the way. Aaaaand…I don't own the song lyrics used here. )

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Thirteen: Love Is Not Perfect, It's More Like Coffee

__

"Eight minutes and I'm losing it a little bit

  
Five minutes and my descriptions not starting to fit

  
Here we go and I'm forgetting all that I've ever known

  
I won't be standing up for long

I better learn how to crawl."

~ **Flat On The Floor, Nickelback**

__

'What the hell…?'

Kimirah nodded matter-factly, even though he couldn't see. 'What they see is love.'

Zelgadis eyed the canopy of leaves and vines above him with a fixed stare. "What are you talking about?" he said aloud. He could hear a "tsk"-ing sound from Kimirah.

__

Do you not understand the meaning of the word? Kimirah asked impatiently. _Love. L-O-V-E. A deep, tender, indescribable feeling toward a person. An expression of one's affection. Get it?_

Zelgadis could only stare into the sky rather than utter a response.

Kimirah groaned. _Let me try this in terms you might be able to understand. Umm…_Zelgadis could hear a tapping sound, as though Kimirah was deeply pondering the matter by drumming her fingernails on stone. 

__

Okay….uh….love…love…is…

Suddenly, Zelgadis heard a clapping sound. _Oh, I know! You love coffee! So…uh…coffee equals love!_

A very heavy sounding facefault occurred immediately after this ridiculous proclamation. Zelgadis found himself smashed into the ground. He could hear a sheepish laugh from Kimirah.

__

Okay, so maybe coffee wasn't the best choice of words…

After disengaging himself from the broken concrete, Zelgadis dusted off his shirt and pants while giving an exasperated sigh. _Now that I'm certain you have no skill in clarification, I can leave._

Hold it right there, Mister! 

As though the sinking feeling in his stomach had suddenly become solid, Zelgadis found himself tripping over his own feet and falling forward onto the ground again. Face flat in the dirt, he could only attempt to mutter a string of curses. He managed to lift up his dirt-stained face. "Damn you, Kimirah…quit _doing_ that!!"

__

Doing what? Came the annoyingly innocent reply. _I can't help being psychic._ (Zelgadis heard a tiny cough, as though to suggest that she was lying.) _ If you would be quiet, sit still and listen, I just might let you go._

Zelgadis lifted himself up and plopped down grumpily on the side of the fountain, sitting cross-legged and staring moodily at the ground. _Fine._

What can I say to make you understand? The priestess sounded pained. _This isn't something you're good at, is it. It's something you have never experienced before, yet it's been there all along, but you were too scared to recognize it._

I'll tell you what you can say…thought Zelgadis sulkily. _You can answer me this. How could I possibly be in…in _love_…if I'm so annoyed with her?_

Did I ever say love was perfect?

No…In spite of the situation, Zelgadis managed to smirk up at the canopy. _You said it's like coffee._

It was Kimirah's turn to facefault, and she did so, allowing Zelgadis to hear the loud _flump! _of her falling sideways on wherever she was standing. _I didn't mean that—I was trying to—that's not the POINT! _Zelgadis had to enjoy a chuckle at her expense.

Kimirah sighed. _Now,_ _listen, Zelgadis…love is not perfect. It is difficult. It tears your heart into pieces at times. But that's the way it's supposed to be. Love is not all ups, nor is it all downs. If you would just talk to Amelia, you would understand how wonderful it is when you've healed from the scar it's given you._

Oh, yeah? Zelgadis answered. _If YOU would just talk to Amelia, you would see how upset she was when I left._

Hmmph. Well, that was all your fault.

Zelgadis sweatdropped. _My fault? _Aloud, he replied, "You have a point…I was the one who made her that way…but how could she forget that?" The way he had phrased it sounded strange even to himself.

__

Amelia is not the type to hold a grudge. Particularly not for the man she loves.

….What?

Kimirah laughed happily. _'What', he says._ _Exactly what I said._

How do you know she…?

A sly chuckle came through as the answer. _Since I doubt you would want me to say "Sore wa himitsu desu", I'm simple going to say "Sources."_

Zelgadis stared straight ahead. _…Right…as if that's not creepy at all…_

Kimirah huffed. _Don't even say "Mazoku". Because I'm not._

…Stalker, then.

I am NOT! was the angry outburst. _Good god, you just don't trust anyone, do you?_

Zelgadis scoffed, but there was nothing in his voice to discourage the fact that he was flustered._ Well, then, how am I possibly supposed to take your word for it?_

__

You won't have to. Kimirah's voice faded for a moment as the sound of footsteps on stone overlapped, and Zelgadis heard a shuffling noise. _You can ask her yourself. _

How?

Wait for her, replied Kimirah._ She's here._

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

__

"Are you sure this is the right way, Lina-san?"

Amelia was hanging back behind Lina and Gourry, biting her lip tentatively. The thought of losing Zelgadis's tracks made her apprehensive of a wrong turn.

Lina stopped and looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes. "Would you calm down, Amelia? That's about the fifth time you've asked me. Would I be going this way if I was unsure?"

"That's not the point, Lina-san!" Amelia hurried to catch up to the two of them. "I want to make sure you didn't make a mistake." She caught herself and smiled shamefacedly. "I mean, just in case, you know!"

Lina tilted her head and turned around completely. "Adara said he headed north. She saw him just as he left. Is that enough for you?"

"I guess so…"

Gourry suddenly smiled. "Don't worry about it, Amelia. We'll find him pretty soon. If he gets moody on us, we can always have Lina kick him back to Seyruun."

Both girls stared at Gourry for a second, and then Amelia began to laugh. "Thanks, Gourry-san," giggled Amelia.

Lina punched Gourry's arm for good measure—there was no way he could ever get away with a Lina joke, even if it did actually make her laugh. "You're right about the kicking thing, Gourry, but I really have no idea what exactly we're looking for. Zel's bound to have stopped somewhere, but _where_, I don't know…"

"Wasn't he looking for his cure?" asked Gourry.

"What _else_?" scoffed Lina, but Amelia looked thoughtful on that.

"Lina-san, where's the first place Zelgadis-san would look for a cure?" Amelia's eyes darted back and forth across the horizon, as though she were looking for something. 

"Um…if I know him well enough, I'd say…a library, a city with lots of stores, a temple, a really creepy, depressing guild…the possibilities are endless."

"So does that mean that Zelgadis-san might have passed by here?" said Amelia curiously, pointing up to the looming, ancient-looking stone temple rising up before them. 

Lina blinked at the amazingly convenient placement of the temple. "Wow. Talk about your good timing."

Amelia clasped her hands together eagerly. "Great, we can go inside and ask someone if they've seen him! C'mon!" She ran on ahead until she reached the walkway into the temple, marveling at its majestic structure. She fiddled with the carpet of moss and vines snaking all over the doorway before walking inside. 

"Hey, Amelia, wait up!" shouted Lina, pursuing the princess at top speed, determined not to be left behind. Gourry followed at a more subdued pace.

"Wow…" breathed Amelia, gazing admiringly at the interior design of the temple as she walked, her feet making a tapping sound against the multicolored cobblestone floor. She was even more so awestruck at the way the walls seemed to move, as a swirling sea of white and shimmering amber. 

"Geez, could you possibly _wait _for us, Amel—wow…" exclaimed Lina upon arriving in the room seconds after Amelia and staring with the same somewhat overwhelmed expression as Amelia. Gourry was right behind her. 

"Look at _that_, Lina…" Gourry gaped at the beauty of the walls, clearly enraptured. 

Amelia slowly raised her hand to catch one of the wavering streaks of light, and her mouth parted slightly. "What kind of room is this?"

Gourry wandered closer to the wall. "It's kinda liquidy, isn't it…." His hand stretched slowly towards the wall. "It's almost like—"

As soon as his hand touched the film, Lina and Amelia heard a loud zapping sound. Both turned around to find the wall rippling slightly, and sticking out of it, a pair of frantically kicking legs covered by familiar blue armor. Lina smacked a hand against her forehead and groaned emphatically. "_Gourry_!"

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

"What do you mean, 'she's here'?" said Zelgadis aloud and abruptly, looking around. "She can't possibly be here…"

__

Why ever not? asked the priestess.

__

Because Lina wouldn't let her go looking for me on her own, Zelgadis answered in his head.

__

Oh, don't worry, Lina and Gourry are here too.

Zelgadis blinked. _Lina's here? _His eyes closed briefly as comprehension dawned on him. _Oh, great._

What?

Zelgadis glared up at the sky. _She's going to Fireball the crap out of me. And I could've left, if you hadn't kept me here, bending my ear for so long, _Zelgadis added vehemently. 

Kimirah made an angry noise. _Just because YOU think you don't have to listen to someone who's trying to help you doesn't mean you can blame your future Fireballing problems on them! So unless you would like to find yourself six feet under again, you should sit down and PAY ATTENTION._

Zelgadis sat down quickly on the crumbled fountain side. _Sitting. _In spite of the threat, he had to grumble. _I think you're copying off of Lina._

The priestess cleared her throat loudly.

Zelgadis sat up straight, rapt, and as at attention as possible. _So, you were saying?_

Yes, as I was saying, before I was so rudely insulted—Zelgadis fought the urge to sneer—_Amelia will not hold a grudge against you. Why do you think she's looking for you?_

I was thinking, began Zelgadis in a tone that was just a tad too sardonic, _that maybe it would be for the same purpose as Lina._

And by that, you mean kicking the crap out of you?

Zelgadis nodded fervently.

__

I'm not in the least surprised that you have the littlest faith in her, Kimirah said briskly. _You are a man who does not exactly bleed faithfulness._

What are you talking about? Zelgadis stood up. _Do you think I search every single day for a cure…just for fun?? What do you take me for??_

That's not what I meant. Kimirah's brashness had faded to a soft, patient tone. In truth, she sounded almost sad. _ I do not think you look for a cure just for fun. I think you want to be human again. Very much._

Then why, asked Zelgadis, angry that she could be taking his ambitions merely for play, _do you think I don't exactly 'bleed faithfulness'?! All I've been trying to do for more than three years is find the remedy to this. _He made an impatient gesture to his body. _Every time I get close, something happens and I lose it again. There is nothing I want more than to be human again. And I've been trying to be devoted to that cause for…too long to remember. So don't tell me I'm unfaithful. _

I don't mean to. Kimirah heaved a sigh. It seemed as though she were trying very hard to speak any more. _I mean…you're running._

Oh, what, from Amelia? Said Zelgadis in a angry, mocking tone. _Is that what you're going to say? _

That's exactly_ what I was going to say._

For once in this conversation, Zelgadis could not think of a single thing to say. The fact that the answer to his speech was such a short reply, and not in the least as complex and annoying as he had expected, came shockingly. Also, the fact that she had agreed with him was most definitely a first.

__

Don't you see? You want to look human. Amelia wants you to have human feelings. They're keeping you from finding the way to look human. And you don't think that what Amelia wants you to be will ever be better than what you dreamed of. She sighed heavily. _What I meant when I said you were not faithful…_

Caught up in hanging onto her words, in hopes that they might provide an answer, Zelgadis did not even dare to breathe.

__

…was that you are quite unfaithful…to what Amelia wants. And you don't know this, but…

As if on cue, Zelgadis slowly pulled Amelia's bracelet from his cloak pocket and ran his thumb over the jewel, tracing the lines of the white star inside it.

__

What she wants is what you want. Do you know what that means, O Emotion-Challenged One?

Zelgadis stared up at the green canopy with a slightly resentful expression. The sky was peppered with stars. _No…I don't. Are you going to tell me? _

He heard a small chuckle coming from Kimirah's end. _The only person with the right to explain that to you can be Amelia. You just stay there, Zelgadis Graywords._

Zelgadis heard a strange clicking noise, and within the second, realized that Kimirah had broken the connection. "Wait a minute! How am I supposed to…?"

But there was silence.

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

"Pull harder, Lina-san!"

"I'm _trying_!"

"I'm bored…"

"Shut up, Gourry."

The straining groans and yanks were coming from Amelia and Lina, who were pulling, with all their might, on Gourry's legs to try and pull him out. The occasional sigh of boredom came from Gourry, who was hanging from the middle of a wall, stuck, of his accord, between two rooms. 

Of course, that didn't keep Gourry from making Lina want to rip his hair out. If she could even reach his hair, anyway.

"Lina, don't you have some magic you could use to get me out?" Gourry squirmed inside the hole. "My legs are starting to feel numb."

"Gourry, if you don't _shut up_, I'm going to burn your legs OFF," interrupted Lina savagely, yanking on his legs even harder ("OW!"). "And even if I DID have some magic to get you out, I wouldn't _use_ it, because this is all your fault. So unless you want your legs fried off, you would do well to just be quiet."

"But, Lina—"

"LEGS FRIED OFF."

"Gotcha, Lina."

Amelia stopped to catch her breath. "You shouldn't get so mad at Gourry-san, Lina-san," she said. "It's not his fault. He didn't know the wall could….uh….suck you into it by touch."

"Well," began Lina, leaning forward to yank on Gourry's foot, "He could learn—" she yanked his foot ("OW!") "—to show—" she yanked harder ("HEY!") "—respect—" she yanked again, pulling as hard as she could ("AH-AHH!") "—for things he doesn't understand." She dusted her hands off in satisfaction as Gourry whimpered slightly.

"You have a point…Lina-san…a rather painful one, though," she added sympathetically, giving Gourry's legs a pitiful look. She sighed a little, starting to worry. "If we don't get him out soon, we might miss a chance to find Zelgadis-san's whereabouts…." She glanced nervously around the reflected room.

Lina gave the princess a softened look. "Don't worry about it, Amelia. We'll have him out soon enou—"

No sooner had she uttered these words, then the wall began to open up slightly, swallowing Gourry whole. Before his legs completely disappeared, Lina grabbed hold of his feet. "Where—do you think—you're going—Gourry!?" she said through gritted teeth.

Amelia gasped and snatched at Lina, pulling her back by her arms, but then, all three of them felt a violent jerk around their stomachs, and flew through the hole, each hanging onto the one in front as they crashed into the next room. The wall shuddered, and then folded itself up again with a gentle ripple.

Lina was in the middle of the heap that was Amelia, Gourry, and herself. Her face was smushed into Gourry's shoulder blade. "Mmnn errffmm mimmh."

Amelia managed to lift up her head. "What, Lina-san?"

"Mmnn errffmm mimmh," repeated Lina from the depths of Gourry's shoulder.

"….What?'

"MMNN ERRFFMM MIMMH!"

Amelia, still not getting a word Lina was saying, hopped off of her back and watched her look up.

"I said….get off of me…"

Amelia grinned sheepishly. "Kinda late for that, Lina-san." She held out a hand and Lina took it, dusting herself off and nudging Gourry with the tip of her foot.

"Hey, Gourry…get up."

The muffled reply came. "Mmgerff…I dun wann' go t'school today, Mom…stay home, 'n bake cookies wif'you…"

Lina shook her head in disdain as Amelia giggled. "That falling through must've given him a bonk on the head. Of course, this is almost normal speech for him…" She instantly wrapped her arms around his chest and dragged him off the floor over to the wall, and leaned him up against the bricks. Her expression softened as she looked at his dopey, unconscious face. "Poor guy."

Amelia was going to ask where this new, tender nature had come from when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and stood up with Lina to find a young woman, barely as tall as herself, wearing violet-shaded robes and a weary expression. Immediately, Amelia's attention was drawn to the girls' crystal-like eyes…where had she seen them before…?

"Who are you?" asked Lina, taking the initiative, as always.

The young woman smiled, folding her hands in the folds of her robes. Her long, twirling brown-blonde hair quavered when she moved. "I am Kimirah, the Head Shrine Maiden of this temple. Don't worry, you're not the only ones to get trapped in here," she said, gesturing to the room they were in. 

That comforted Amelia quite a bit. "Thank you very much, Kimirah! I'm Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Princess of—"

"Seyruun Princess?" said Kimirah, sweeping a quick look over Amelia and smiling somewhat secretively. This made Amelia a bit nervous, but Kimirah covered up the gesture with a serene nod. "You're looking for that man—" Amelia's stomach fluttered with hope—" Zelgadis…"

"Graywords!" exclaimed Amelia excitedly. "You've seen him?"

"Where is he?" demanded Lina with a fierce look that alluded to her plans in store for Zelgadis. 

Kimirah looked very satisfied in hearing that her assumption was correct. She beckoned to the wavering wall. "He is still here."

"He's…he's h-here?" Amelia said quietly, utterly overjoyed but trying to suppress her butterfly-ridden stomach-y feeling. "Can you…could you show us?" she asked gracefully, but with a shaky tone.

"Absolutely," answered Kimirah, looking as though the pleasure could not be more welcomed than now, "Please, follow me."

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

Zelgadis was pacing back and forth in front of the damaged fountain. Over an hour ago, he had wanted nothing more than to leave this gods-damned temple, and now he was apprehensive of leaving, should he run unto Amelia, or worse, the fire-breathing sorceress herself.

"Damn her…that shrine maiden…talking my ear off, then daring to leave me in the dark _again_!" He stopped to look and ponder over Amelia's bracelet again. "I shouldn't have come here." He paused and looked up to gaze at the starlit sky. "And….yet…"

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

"In here." Kimirah undid the small gate padlock, and it swung open on unoiled hinges, making a long creaking noise that made Amelia jump.

Kimirah looked at her rather kindly. "Go ahead. But you two…" she looked at Lina and Gourry, Lina looking ready to pummel the first stony swordsman to come out of the garden, "You two should wait."

Lina opened her mouth to protest, but was stopped by a warning look from Gourry. She sighed plaintively. "Fine."

Kimirah looked slyly at the two of them as Amelia locked the gate behind her and went on into the garden's darkness. "I think we have a lot we could talk about."

Amelia's descent down the little cobblestone pathway led to a well-lit garden, paved with vines, statuettes, and a beautiful canopy of leaves and vines, and…her mouth parted in amazement as she saw the tall figure standing alongside the fountain, staring avidly at the sky, clenching a small, familiar bracelet.

She ventured forth after a moment's hesitation. "….Ze…Zelgadis-san?"

The chimera turned towards her with a similar look of astonishment, and, though it was hard to see, relief. "Amelia?"

****

(I sincerely hope you liked. I tried to make it better than chapter twelve, the teaser chapter. Wanna know something random? I just now realized that "Kimirah" sounds almost exactly like "chimera". *blink* That's cool…in a freaky, meaningless way, I guess…Oh, and to The Flower Girl: Shira's actually not dead. ^^ She's been focusing on Inuyasha-ness. I command you to go see!!! ^^ 

My story has kind of morphed from the humor I originally intended. But I still like it. I hope you do. ^^ Till next chapter. ~ Tams.**)**


	14. Justice, Imported Wine, And A Priestess ...

****

(AN: Chapter fourteen is probably going to be more serious than I would have liked, so hopefully there will be enough humor later to be satisfied by. ^^ Almost done!**)**

****

Royal Blunders

Chapter Fourteen: Justice, Imported Wine, And A Priestess Can Do A Lot 

__

"I'm so tired that I can't sleep 

Standing on the edge of something much too deep 

It's funny how I feel so much yet cannot say a word 

We are screaming inside, oh, we can't be heard…

…So afraid to love you, more afraid to lose 

Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose 

Where once there was a darkness, a deep and endless night 

You gave me everything you had, oh, you gave me life."

****

~ I Will Remember You, Sarah McLachlan

It was amazing how the shock would not register in Amelia's mind. She had been waiting and searching for him, yet the meeting that was finally about to take place between them, for the first time since the argument, was something unexpected. She swallowed heavily; her throat seemed to have suddenly become very dry. "Hello, Zelgadis-san." 

Zelgadis froze. He could not believe that she was here, after such a vivid fight, after so much emotion, saying something as simple as "hello" to him. Shouldn't she be screaming? Or hitting him with all the magical power she possessed, as punishment for his stupidity? Shouldn't she be doing _something_? 

"Amelia." He nodded his head slightly, as he spoke, to show that he had acknowledged her. _What now_, he thought. What else could he say now? He had just been lectured by a stranger, had just been reprimanded for being so dense in the matters of the heart, had just learned some things he had never bothered to learn before. He was worn _out _from talking. But the words that had been spoken in his head only minutes ago were now cemented in his mind as he stared at her…

__

You seem to be afraid, Kimirah had said.

Why in HELL would I be afraid, he had replied furiously.

Because you know nothing about handling love.

Was he still afraid? He let out his breath swiftly, to hide his nervousness from her. Funny, that was another one of the many things he now hid from her.

Amelia fidgeted with her fingers, finally balling them up into a tightly held position. What should she say now? Zelgadis didn't seem to be in any hurry, so there probably wasn't any danger of him escaping. But what words could possibly gain his attention, when the last words he had heard from her had caused him to storm away and leave town? Somehow, she thought, 'how is the weather up here' didn't seem quite as inviting. "How are you…have you found anything up here?" 

Now _there_ was something Zelgadis could answer without the threat of awkward tendencies. "There was an entire library of information. I just didn't feel like going through all eight hundred-ninety shelves of it." He blinked as he remembered what he was going to ask. "How did you find me?"

Amelia shrugged lightly. "Lina-san thought you might go someplace creepy, and we arrived at this temple as soon as she suggested it."

A tiny sweatdrop rolled down the side of Zelgadis' head. "Figures…"

"And Gourry-san got stuck in a wall, so it took us a while to get out of there…"

The expression on Zelgadis' face flattened. "Why am I not surprised…" Of course, he had no intention of spilling the fact that he himself had gotten pulled _though _the wall from being so easily amused. _That_ he would keep to himself.

Amelia continued quietly. "And then a shrine maiden helped us find the way out. She was very kind, and she knew who you were. That's how we found you in this garden…"

Zelgadis cocked an eyebrow ever so slightly; was that were Kimirah had gone? And then another thought struck him…how much had Kimirah _told_ Amelia? He had, after all, had a long conversation with the priestess, and she was bound to have told him some of the more innermost details that he was not yet ready to share. He cursed inwardly at the bothersome priestess and looked over at Amelia again. "She knew you?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, she seemed to, well enough…" At this, Amelia had to wonder herself, exactly how had the priestess known the _both_ of them; herself _and _Zelgadis, when she had never met them before? But before she could belabor the moment for that question, she looked directly at Zelgadis. It was time to stop procrastinating.

"Zelgadis-san…I…I need to talk to you."

"Like you are now?" That was an incredibly stupid question on his own part, Zelgadis thought to himself, but Amelia didn't seem particularly affected by it; she seemed much more focused than himself.

"Yes. I need to talk to you…" Amelia could not bring herself to gaze at his face any longer, and now turned her eyes' direction to the ground. "I need to talk to you…about yesterday."

Ah, yes, yesterday. The day he, Zelgadis, had been dreading the subject of. Now he was in trouble. His stomach sank as he eyed her quietly. "Go on…"

Amelia bit back her lip. She had not expected the discussion to be turned over to her so quickly, but nevertheless, began to talk. "I want to…apologize."

Well, this came as a shock. She was apologizing? And here Zelgadis had been expecting a reprimand from Amelia, as well, and she…was apologizing to him?? It was now that Zelgadis felt a strange twisting feeling in his stomach. "For…what?"

She still could not look at him, blinking repeatedly, for fear of tears gushing down her face in front of him. "I know how much you want to be a real human. I know you don't want to have the looks you have now. I really do. I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you when all you w-wanted was to look like e-everyone else…" She nearly choked on the lump that was growing in her throat. Zelgadis didn't say a word. "I guess I was just…so upset that you were leaving, because I've been trying to get you to know how much you mean to everyone, and your looks don't change that…"

"Amelia…" Zelgadis almost reached out to stop her. She was going to cry, he knew it. The pang he kept feeling in his gut was shame; it was himself who had brought this suffering on her, the guilt she thought was her own, but really was not. That was another unexpected turn. Zelgadis had not been anticipating feeling ashamed of his own actions, when he had just convinced himself that they were right. How did _that _happen?

"And I was so s-selfish, trying to keep you in Seyruun when you were trying to look for a cure, and I shouldn't have gotten mad, but I was so upset that you were leaving me…" She made the mistake of looking into his eyes, then closed her own, feeling the warm wet trickle down her cheeks, embarrassed of the excess emotion she was pressuring him with, again. 

Zelgadis could only stare at her dampening face. So, it hadn't been an act, he thought belatedly. As the princess broke down in front of him, he could only think of everything that had been said prior to this conversation, and it began to piece itself together as he looked on…

__

"Amelia never forgot about you…she never forgot about the bracelet, or the promise, for that matter…"

"Underneath, she's not so stupid to you…"

"During this whole month, you've been seeing her with new eyes. She's more grown up, and you've seen that. She's also seen you for the true person you are, under that rocky head of yours. Of course, she knew most of that before this month. That's what she's been trying to tell you."

Kimirah had been right, he thought, looking down on Amelia, sobbing silently onto the ground…

__

"It's something you have never experienced before, yet it's been there all along, but you were too scared to recognize it."

"Amelia will not hold a grudge against you. Why do you think she's looking for you?"

__

"I mean…you're running."

"Oh, what, from Amelia?" Zelgadis had said in an angry tone. "_Is that what you're going to say?" _

"That's exactly_ what I was going to say."_

It all began to click inside Zel's head. He kneeled next to Amelia, who had been stammering her apologies, and had collapsed to her knees as well. He took a gentle hold of her shoulders and shook her just slightly. "Amelia, calm down a minute." Yes, it all was starting to make sense…it was all crazy…it was stupid, really…but it made _sense_…

__

"Amelia wants you to have human feelings. They're keeping you from finding the way to look human. And you don't think that what Amelia wants you to be will ever be better than what you dreamed of."

Amelia looked up at Zelgadis, surprised at his sudden change of motion. Her face was shining with tears. "I'm sorry, Z-Zelgadis-san…"

__

"What I meant when I said you were not faithful…was that you are quite unfaithful…to what Amelia wants. And you don't know this, but…what she wants is what you want. Do you know what that means, O Emotion-Challenged One?"

"Don't be sorry, Amelia," answered Zelgadis quietly, looking at the ground and releasing his grip on her as he stood up again, and she followed suit. "Just…don't. Look, I'm…sorry. It was my fault."

Amelia wiped her face immediately, flushing slightly from her unbridled emotion. "Zelgadis-san, don't say that. It wasn't all your fault."

"Why did you come out here, then?" Zelgadis was desperately searching for answers from Amelia, because Kimirah had said she was the only one qualified to tell him. _Huh_, he thought, _imagine that, me listening to that crazy priestess._

Amelia peered up at Zelgadis somewhat fixedly. "To find you."

Why was she so rapt when it came to him, Zelgadis wondered. He had tormented her with his leaving, had unknowingly forced her to search for him, and was causing her to sob right in from of him. So, why? "But…why?" 

Amelia drew in a long, shuddering breath. Now was the time. If she didn't do what Adara had told her to do, she would never say it. _Now or never_, she thought. "Because I love you." There it was. Blunt, and abrupt. But it was out.

Zelgadis gaped at her. He'd heard this many time before from alternate sources, but to hear it from Amelia's own mouth was positively bewildering.

Enraptured by her own confidence, Amelia began to speak in a much clearer, much louder voice. "Why else would I be so upset, Zelgadis-san? Adara was right! It would be unjust to lie about something this important…I love you, Zelgadis-san! All this time I though it was just a strong bond of friendship, but with all these emotions, what else could it be?? My heart of Justice is telling me so, and Justice is ALWAYS right!! Think about it. I even _kissed_ you, Zelgadis-san!!"

"That was under the influence of two glasses of imported wine, Amelia," interrupted Zelgadis weakly.

"That doesn't matter!" continued Amelia with as much zest as before and without a single falter. "Adara was right, Zelgadis-san." She looked him deliberately in the eyes. "She said that you think you have to look like everyone else to be happy. You're too caught up in being normal to think about what really matters. But you don't _need_ a normal body for that, Zelgadis-san! You don't need that for things like friendship, and justice, and…" Her eyes stung from staring at him so intensely. "I don't care about how you look."

Zelgadis didn't say a word.

"And I love you anyway." With that, she exhaled slowly, clasped her hands in the folds of her shirt, and looked up at him, waiting, almost fearfully.

Zelgadis stared at the ground, thinking. _She's right. About all of that. I wanted a cure to be human. I wanted it so I would feel like I was a normal part of this world. So I would get out from being under the curse Rezo gave me. So I could walk on a street and not be stared at for once. But after a while, I…_he glanced at Amelia's hopeful-looking face. _I…wanted it not just for myself, but…I want it to be with Amelia. So she would love me. _

He lifted his gaze from the ground. _But she does. She already does. _He took a step forward and, to both his and Amelia's surprise, grasped her hands in his. "I think it's taken me a couple absences, a priestess, and you to get this out of me, but…"

Amelia hardly dared to breathe. Or move, for that matter. "What, Zelgadis-san?"

"I…I love you…too. I guess I've been…afraid of admitting it, but from what I've been told…and what's happened this month…it's all that makes sense. It's taken a number of things for me to realize…how much I care for you." Then he stopped suddenly, with bated breath, for her reaction.

Which was nothing like what he expected. Amelia had flung her arms around his neck as much as she could, for Zelgadis was taller than herself, and had suddenly kissed him. Wide eyes and a bright red flush covered his face, until the initial shock had been suspended, and he could relax into it.

When Amelia stepped back from him, her face was as brilliantly red as his own, but her smile was even more so. She fidgeted slightly with her fingers and grinned somewhat sheepishly. "I think that was better than the kiss from before." She laughed into her palms a little.

Zelgadis cracked into a half-smile, embarrassed as it was. "Do you even remember that?"

"Not really," she said with a slight chuckle. "This'll take the place of it." Then she cocked her head curiously at him. "Zelgadis-san…no offense, but I kind of wasn't expecting you to…um…admit how you felt so quickly. But you did." She examined his face quizzically, waiting for an answer. "How?"

Zelgadis shrugged. "It took me a while. I guess my leaving you made me see how much you are to me…and, uh…that priestess knocked some sense into me." He massaged his temple. "Literally."

Amelia nodded slowly, taking it all in to piece together the broken puzzle of her thoughts. "So…what now, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis surveyed the garden behind him. The early morning sky was peeking through the twisted vines of the green canopy, a brilliant mix of reds, pinks, and violets. He looked back down at Amelia. "I guess…I'll go back to Seyruun with you. I'm still learning a lot, aren't I? You should be able to teach me." He looked quite serious as he said this.

"Really, Zelgadis-san?" Amelia looked quite happy now.

Zelgadis smiled and moved a loose strand of black hair out of Amelia's face and behind her ear. "Really, Amelia." Then he broke into an all-out grin, a first for him. "You're being stubborn, you know."

Amelia was slightly alarmed by this statement. "I am…? How?"

"You forgot? I kept telling you to stop calling me 'Zelgadis-san', didn't I?" His eyes were just the tiniest bit mischievous. Amelia smiled in relief.

"I'm just used to calling you Zelgadis-san, that's all. It might be hard to break the habit."

Then Zelgadis cupped his hands behind Amelia's head, moving some of her hair aside. "You're going to have to learn."

Amelia blushed, resting her arms against his shoulders. "Then we _both_ have a lot to learn, I guess!"

Zelgadis nodded silently, and pulled her gently toward him into a kiss, which she accepted wholeheartedly.

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

"Well, that was much quicker than I expected, but it was well worth the effort," exclaimed Kimirah, peeking through a hole in the carpeted vines. She smiled as Zelgadis pulled Amelia into the kiss. "Good boy, Zelgadis." She let the vines fall back into place and turned to the other two.

Lina was walking back and forth in the dirt, with such an intense look on her face and pound in her step that she had reduced that particular section of the ground to a grinded line in the dust. Gourry was watching her curiously as he absentmindedly picked the petals off of a rare flower he'd found behind the shrine he was sitting on.

"Are you trying to make a hole, Lina?" he asked casually, now shredding the petals into microscopic pieces.

Lina groaned in frustration and turned on him. "I'm waiting for them to get back out here! What are they doing? And what's taking so long?" She glanced at Kimirah for answers.

Kimirah merely grinned. "I don't think you'll have to wait for long, Lina. I, however, have to get back to work." She dusted off the front of her robes and took a few steps toward Lina. "Don't be too hard on him. It took a lot for him to understand."

"Understand what?" Lina asked impatiently. 

"Oh, a lot of things," said Kimirah, waving her hand. "His feelings, Amelia's feelings, and most importantly…himself." She looked at the wrought iron gate covered by vines, but could see through them. Amelia and Zelgadis were making their way back quickly. She turned to Lina with a smile. "Don't tease them too much for being in love." She turned on heel and swept away from Lina, who was staring after her, shell-shocked.

"What?? Wait a minute, Kimirah, what do you mean in lo—" But Kimirah was gone from sight. Lowering her hand, Lina dashed over to the gate to try and see them. "I can't see a thing--!"

Gourry arose from his seat and stood behind her, peering past the gate. Lina looked up at him. "Well, what do you see?" she demanded.

Gourry, after a moment's pause, stood back on his heels and shrugged. "Not a thing."

Lina scowled and ran back past Gourry. "What are you doing…?" he asked, but Lina ignored him, rolling up her sleeves. 

"I'm sick of waiting…" she murmured angrily, walking towards the gate and turning into a sprint.

She took a running leap into the air, with her right foot aimed downward at the gate. "OPEN UP, YOU STUPID—" Before her foot hit the gate, the invisible forcefield between the outside, where they were, and the inside of the temple garden sensed a motion, and repelled Lina backwards as soon as the tip of her foot came close. Lina flew backwards into Gourry, knocking them both into the dirt.

Gourry instantly tried to sit up, but failed and groaned painfully, as Lina was sitting on his stomach. "Oi, Lina…" he gasped for breath.

Lina sat up and looked at him. "What?"

Gourry heaved a short breath and cried, "You're sitting on me, and you're heavy!" He had barely finished when he caught, not a moment too soon, Lina's fist aiming straight for his face. He caught the other one as it came flying at him.

"I'll teach you not to call me heavy, Gourry--!" hissed Lina, wrestling with his arms and finally wrenching out of his grip and grasping his arms when she was free, flattening them to the ground and sitting on his stomach to hold him there. "Take it back!"

"Linaaaa!" Now there was no doubt that Gourry would suffer for his misuse of words, and also, that he would suffocate.

"Take it back!"

"But, Lina!"

"Take it BACK!"

"Lina!"

"Gourry—"

"Lina…"

"—I'm warning you—"

"*gasp* I can't…"

"Can't take it back?"

"….Can't breathe…"

At that precise moment, Zelgadis led Amelia through the gate, only to have both of them find Lina and Gourry in quite a compromising situation: Gourry, laying on the ground, straddled by Lina, who was pinning his arms to his sides. Zelgadis blinked. "Are we…interrupting something?" At his side, Amelia giggled under her breath.

Lina sneered at him. "Absolutely _not_." She stood up instantly, allowing Gourry to stand, and kicked him in the shin for good measure. "And where have you been, Mr. I-Think-I'm-More-Important-Than-Everyone?" she asked darkly, as Gourry howled and hopped around on one foot in the background. "Change your mind yet?"

Amelia spoke up for him. "Zelgadis-san is coming back. There's no need for you to get mad at him now, Lina-san." She gave Zelgadis an encouraging look, but he could only smile weakly and pray that Lina would be merciful.

Lina gave Zelgadis a calculating look. "Is that true?"

Zelgadis, in response, nodded, perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than necessary, but hey, he was ensuring the safety of his health, here. "Absolutely. I made a mistake, and I…I want to make it right…if I can."

"Glad to hear it, Zel," said Lina, grinning suddenly, and alarming the two of them slightly with the change of personality. "You know, it was stupid of you to leave, but it must have taken guts to come back. More importantly, it must take a lot of guts to face me."

Zelgadis grinned. "I'm sure."

Lina nodded. "You better be, because I was about to Dragon Slave you to next Wednesday," she added cheerfully, going over to help Gourry off his one foot. 

Zelgadis gave Amelia a deadpan look. "She's something else." Amelia nodded in agreement.

Lina approached the two of them again, dragging Gourry by the arm; he waved weakly at Zel. "We're going back to Seyruun! Although," added Lina, in slight disappointment, "I'd rather stay on the road than go back to give a report on the difference between dinner forks." She muttered something about "stupid Recburg".

Amelia gave her a sympathetic look. "You know, Lina-san…you all may be knighted…but that doesn't mean you have to be confined to the palace."

Lina perked up instantly; Zelgadis looked at Amelia somewhat incredulously, in hopes that what she said was true, and Gourry stopped rubbing his arm to look up too.

Amelia nodded. "I know I got you all into this to reward you, but none of you are very happy with what's happened in the last month…" she gave Zelgadis an oddly furtive glance as she said this, "So, if you want, I'll ask Daddy to let you all go."

Lina stared. "Amelia…are you sure? I mean, you were so happy to have us all there…" Even as she said so, she had a look on her face, one that hoped Amelia would let them go.

Amelia shrugged. "If you leave, it doesn't mean you're not knighted anymore! Besides, you don't really fit in with royalty. What I mean is, you belong on the road, fighting and everything!" she added nervously, as Lina narrowed her eyes. "So, Lina-san, Gourry-san…Zelgadis-s…" Amelia smiled at Zelgadis, making sure to drop the '-san' part. "I'll make sure we can get out of there."

Lina wrapped Amelia in a swift, rushed hug, yanked Gourry by the arm, and began rushing down the road, away from the temple as fast as was humanly possible. "Then let's get going, guys!!" In her excitement, she'd forgotten to tease the two that were still standing behind, for which Zelgadis was thankful.

Amelia made a happy noise between a squeal and a laugh, and gazed eagerly at Zelgadis. "She's right. Let's get back as soon as we can!"

Zelgadis nodded, allowing a half-grin to form on his face, and began to follow Amelia as she ran down the road, until he heard a very familiar, very triumphant-sounding voice somewhere above him as he walked.

__

I have to say, I'm proud of you, Zelgadis Graywords. You've done well. 

Zelgadis didn't have to, but he turned around to see who was speaking. No one was there. Until he saw a distant figure in the high window of the temple, which was slowly fading into the background as he walked. A smiling face and easily noticeable violet robes told him it was Kimirah. He didn't frown. _Thanks, Kimirah. _

He could see her waving slightly. _And don't think you've gotten rid of me. I think we will be seeing each other again very soon. _

He had to laugh. _Yeah, sure._

Then he heard it._ Because you owe me for that broken fountain. _

NOW he frowned. Zelgadis backed away before turning completely to follow Amelia and the others, back onto the road to Seyruun. 


	15. Awakenings, Both Good Ones And Undeniabl...

****

(AN: This is the very last chapter. Can you believe it? Um, I can. Anyway, go read and review, so I can die happy. *runs off* *distant sounds of whooping and joyous shouts***)**

Royal Blunders

Chapter Fifteen: Awakenings, Both Good Ones and Undeniably Weird Ones

__

"I am no superman, I have no answers for you

I am no hero, oh, that's for sure

But I do know one thing

Where you are is where I belong

I do know where you go

Is where I want to be

Where are you going?

Where do you go?

Where are you going?

Where?

Let's go."

~ Where Are You Going, The Dave Matthews Band

"So, what's Phil's verdict?" asked Lina, leaning back into the plush leather couch as Gourry reclined next to her lazily. The four of them were back in Seyruun's royal palace, awaiting Phil's answer to their plea as Amelia nearly ran into the coffee table in her haste. The midday sun, coming through the open floor-length windows cast shafts of light against the polished furniture. Zelgadis leaned against a nearby column near the room's entrance, watching as Amelia practically danced in excitement all around the scarlet, gold-embroidered carpet.

"He said he completely understands!" she exclaimed happily. "He knows exactly what you mean."

Lina sat forward instantly. "You mean, he knows we're sick of learning table manners and wearing hoop skirts and sitting up like pieces of wood?" she said hopefully.

Amelia tipped her head thoughtfully to the side. "No, it was more like, 'Of course! Lina-san and the others can't stay in just one place to spread the word of their Just actions! It is only right that they should be traveling the land to praise the good word of Justice!' And I agree, Lina-san! I know you all want to get back on the road as much as I do, and of course, I have to enforce the laws of good, and the best way to do both at the same time is to have you all sent out on official business of JUSTICE!"

She beamed as she froze in a very righteous pose from atop the coffee table as Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis simultaneously sweatdropped. Lina waved her hand impatiently at Amelia. "Yeah, uh…something like that. Can you just get off the coffee table, Amelia?"

Amelia nodded obediently and jumped nimbly to the floor, dusting her hands off and falling back with her arms spread out onto the chair opposite Lina, sinking into the soft fluff. "Daddy says, to make sure you exit like the royalty you are, we should hold a party for you before you leave. It'll be the last time you have to dress up."

"Great!" exclaimed Lina, clapping her hands together. "Then we can leave later today, if we want?"

Amelia nodded.

"VICTORY!" yelled Lina, flashing a v-sign briefly before sinking back into the comfortable couch. "I'm set! All I need to do is get a little pocket money for the road, and then…" Lina rubbed her hands together in an evil-esque fashion, but Amelia shook her head firmly.

"Sorry, Lina-san…even if you're leaving on official reasons, Sir Recburg wouldn't let you take anything from the treasury, even if it belongs to you." She looked deeply apologetic as Lina balled her fists together in annoyance.

"That stupid…ughh…whatever. But I swear to L-sama, I WILL get that money." Amelia, Gourry, and Zelgadis all shook their heads at the familiar maniacal glint appearing in Lina's eyes.

"Just to make sure..." began Zelgadis flatly. "There aren't any drawbacks to _this_ proposition, are there?" 

"Well…" Amelia's tone suddenly dropped from cheerful to depressive as she rested her chin on her palms. "I'll have to stay here a month or so…after all this, there's bound to be papers for me to sort out…royal seals and everything…" she trailed off and gave the floor a disdainful look.

"You mean you can't come with us?" Gourry gave Amelia an incredulous look. "Why won't Philonius let you leave?"

"It's _Philionel, _jellyfish," Lina hissed in his ear, though he just ignored her as Amelia shook her head slowly.

"Daddy says I can't go running off every time you all decide to go on some adventure, even if we have saved the world numerous times, and all…I'll have to track you all down once I get out of here—"

Then Lina gave a triumphant shout. "I've GOT it!" She leapt from her seat. Amelia and Gourry followed suit. "Why didn't I think of it before? It's so obvious!"

Zelgadis and Amelia shared anxious looks as Lina began to plot under her breath. "Yes, it's perfect…" she looked suddenly to Gourry, standing next to her innocently. "Gourry!" she said, causing the swordsman to jump. "We have some work to do." She grabbed his arm and began pulling him out the entranceway.

As soon as they had left, Zelgadis approached Amelia. "Amelia…if you'd like me to…I would stay here and wait for you."

"No, no, Zelgadis-san, it's alright…" she looked up at Zelgadis, who was shaking his head at how quickly she had already forgotten her promise to call him 'Zelgadis.' "I can't really ignore my duties…and I know how much you want to get out of here." She smiled somewhat sadly. "I can catch up to you in about a month."

"If you're sure," answered Zelgadis slowly, realizing something surprising. Now that he knew how he felt about her, he was willing to spend any moment with her, and she only would need ask. Shocking, how much he had changed this month, how quickly he had wanted to become what he had been changing into lately. It must have been a part of this whole concept of caring so much for someone and being too ignorant to realize it.

Amelia seemed to have read the look on his face. She stood up on her toes and touched his face lightly. "You know, Zelgadis-san…for how much you seem to hate the way you look, I have to say it again…you really are very cool-looking." She parted some of the hair in front of his eyes, and he didn't move. "In fact, you're very handsome. I'm just…surprised you don't see that in yourself." Her face flushed pink for a moment after she lowered her hand.

Zelgadis shook his head, despite the brief embarrassment he felt. "It's not something I tend to dwell on."

That was when Lina poked her head around the corner. "Oh, Amelia, by the way…" She stalked over to Amelia wearing a predatory sort of look that scared the princess. "I almost forgot to ask you…"

"Ask me…what, Lina-san?" Amelia ventured cautiously, sneaking a worried glance at Zelgadis.

Lina smirked and pointed to Zelgadis. "How long exactly did it take for you two to admit your feelings?"

The two accused stood in awkward, brief silence, which Zelgadis broke as soon as he thought up a reason. "Why is that of any concern to you, Lina?" he asked in his dark tone, recovering quickly enough.

Lina waggled her finger at the two of them in an uncannily Xellos-like fashion that would have been funny, had the circumstances been less grim than they were. "Don't think you can give me the old 'none of your business' note, Zel. It's not like you can keep it a secret for long, anyway." She folded her arms across her chest.

Amelia swallowed. "It didn't take very long, Lina-san."

Lina laughed a little and gave Amelia a sly look. "Is that because your kissing took up the rest of the time?"

If it were humanely possible, Amelia's face would have gone even redder. "Lina-san…" she murmured under her breath, but she gave a little sigh and nodded mutely.

Lina made a noise that seemed halfway between triumph and amusement and shot her fist into the air. "I knew it! _Alright_, Amelia!" She gave the princess a hearty clap on the back, almost shoving her forward. "I really have to commend you for this…I mean, you must be the only person I know who could kiss a rock." She grinned at Zelgadis. "No offense, Zel." 

"None taken, Lina…" answered the chimera in an odd sort of voice, something that was partially awed, partially stupefied, and partially horrified, though it sounded most like the latter, a strange combination indeed. He was positively mortified at Lina's discovery of…well…you know.

Lina nodded. "I had a feeling this would happen someday…actually, it was more like hope." She gave Amelia an admiring look. "I knew something was different when we were on our way back here. I knew something changed, between you two. And I'm glad." She gazed reflectively at the two of them. "For three years I've been waiting for you guys to stop being so stubborn about it. I've been pretty tempted to just force you together, but you came out on your own." She nodded again, as though commending them through a gesture. "I'm really glad you did."

Amelia's flush had faded, and she threw her arms around the sorceress, hugging her tightly. "Thanks, Lina-san!" Lina patted her back awkwardly, sweatdropping, but happy nonetheless.

Before Zelgadis could say anything, Gourry had approached his side and said, under his breath, "I'm glad too, so, good job, Zel. But, you know, she might just be saying that to get her money back."

"I _heard_ that," retorted Lina but she was far too occupied to lash out any injuries at that point. Amelia stepped back from Lina.

"Lina-san, what are you and Gourry-san going to do after you leave?" she asked curiously, completely unaware of how mortified Zelgadis still looked.

"Not sure…well, besides food sampling and bandit fighting, of course, those are kind of a given…" Lina turned to Gourry for an answer.

He shrugged in turn. "I'd really like to look for a new sword." And…that was it.

"Well, you heard him," Lina answered casually, heading for the entrance again and looking back at the princess. "We better get ready for that party, Amelia."

Amelia gave an eager nod. "Right, Lina-san! I'll go and make sure Daddy has everything ready—"

"Uh-uh," interrupted Lina suddenly, grabbing Amelia's arm and dragging her firmly to the entrance of the room. "You're coming with me. We have to discuss…something."

As she was yanked into the hallway, Amelia gave Zelgadis one last fleeting and pleading glance—there was definitely something afoot when Lina wanted to "discuss something". That was a look Zelgadis could understand right away, and he smirked, thinking of what ridiculous demand the fire-breathing sorceress might subject Amelia to during their "discussion." 

Now alone, he set off for his room, bearing that amusing thought in mind but still hoping it wouldn't be anything extreme involving, for instance, very loud and random explosions. Then again, what else could you expect from Lina, besides robbing restaurants? Of course, thought Zelgadis as he walked down the hallway, that was quite as extreme and…well…as normal as the previous suggestion. 

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

It was a very short time later that Zelgadis was walking back to the lower level of the palace. He'd forgotten to ask Amelia what to wear for the party; not that he was that _vain _or anything, but, as this would be the last time they would be instructed to dress up (and Zel silently thanked L-Sama for that), he might as well do it right.

The next moment was a case of severe déjà vu, as Zelgadis caught a split second's glance of the white blur zooming towards him, and the next second, tumbled backwards onto the floor, flat on his back. He looked up quickly to see Amelia staring worriedly into his face.

"Zelgadis-san! I'm so sorry, are you alright??" He caught the trace of a flush beginning across her face; she _was _sitting on him.

"I'm fine. You have a knack for doing that," he announced dryly, covering up for his slowly spreading blush. "Could you…um…" he gestured to his stomach.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry, uh…" She swiftly scrambled to her feet as Zelgadis stood up, and after a moment's brief, awkward silence between the two (for how much they care for each other, they sure do like to embarrass themselves frequently, huh? ^__^), Amelia dusted herself off and looked back up at him. "You sure you're alright?"

"Of course I am…"

"Okay, good, let's go!" With no pretense, Amelia yanked Zelgadis' arm and began to drag him down the hallway before he pulled her to a stop.

"Wait, wait, Amelia…! What are you doing? I was just going to ask you what I'm supposed to be wearing…" he pointed to the sleeve of his normal beige traveling outfit, which he had neglected to change.

Amelia waved him off impatiently. "No time for that, Zelgadis-san! We have to go, now!"

"But…" Zelgadis was completely dumbfounded. Why be in such a hurry to arrive at the party? "Why aren't you…dressed up?" he asked, annoyed at himself for sounding picky over something he didn't even care about.

"I'll tell you as soon as I can, but right now, just follow me, Zelgadis-san!" She took a hold of his arm again and began sprinting down the hallways.

Within minutes they had almost arrived at the palace's entrance, both running at top speed, until Zelgadis grabbed Amelia's shoulder to slow her down. "Amelia…" he said, breathing slightly heavily from the long run, "What's this all about?"

Amelia made a small, frustrated noise. "I'm not supposed to tell you until we're out of here, but…"

Before she could finish, a soft voice interrupted from behind her. "In a hurry, Princess?" Both Amelia and Zelgadis turned to find Lady Adara, in her normal, dark blue attire with graying hair braided down her back, and standing beside her…a short, familiar-looking, violet-robed girl.

Zelgadis' eyes widened in amazement. "_Kimirah_?"

The afore-mentioned priestess gave the two of them a cheery smile. "Fancy seeing _you_ here."

After a second, Amelia gasped and gave Kimirah the look of dawning comprehension. "I remember you…you're the nice shrine maiden from the temple! Kimirah-san!" She smiled gratefully. "I still can't thank you enough for your help!"

"But…but…" Zelgadis stuttered for a moment before pointing at Adara. "How do you two…and how did you get …what did you not tell me?" He threw an accusatory glare at the priestess, but she merely laughed.

Adara answered for her. "I never told you?" She grinned somewhat mischievously at the priestess. "About my daughter?"

"You're _related_?" said Amelia and Zelgadis at once.

"You didn't guess?" replied Adara and Kimirah simultaneously, both looking at each other and chuckling. "We probably should tell you _now_, at least…" said Adara, giving Kimirah one of her secretive smiles.

Kimirah nodded in response and turned to the princess and stunned chimera. "Well, starting from the beginning is always best, isn't it…to make a long story short, I grew up here until I was sixteen, got sick of all the things I thought to be bores, and not to mention, all the reprimands from my father about formalities. I decided to leave and stop causing so much him so much annoyance…all his hair would have fallen out, had I stayed here," she finished in a mockingly fond voice.

"Your father…?" began Zelgadis slowly, thinking around to who he'd referred to about hair falling out.

"Sir Recburg," answered the three women at once, all grinning at Zelgadis' bewilderment.

"Right," replied Zelgadis darkly, annoyed at their superior smiles.

"So that's why you looked so familiar," breathed Amelia in an almost awed voice. "You look very much like Lady Adara, here…even a little like Sir Recburg."

It was true; Kimirah had inherited her brilliantly sapphire eyes from Adara, not to mention her wise intuition, but had equally recognizable traits from Sir Recburg…the relentless attitude and, frankly, annoying qualities as well. So, _that_ was why she'd looked so familiar, thought Zelgadis. Before anything else was said, he had another thought. "How did you really know all those things about me?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was deeply concerned about how the princess's…relationship with you would turn out, Sir Greywords," Adara said, smiling at the blush growing on Zelgadis' face. "I sent my daughter a message, supplying her with enough information to keep you occupied and to help her figure out more things about you. Apparently, it was successful." She eyed Amelia with that secretive gaze, and the princess blushed just as brightly as Zelgadis had.

"So…you're not really a Seer, and you can't really know everything about someone as soon as you meet them?" asked Zelgadis, smirking.

"Oh, of _course_ I'm a Seer," argued Kimirah, but her face was pink. "I am still in training, you know. Don't think you can outsmart me, Zelgadis Greywords," she said defensively, glaring at him.

Amelia giggled. "No wonder she was able to knock some sense into you, Zelgadis-san."

Zelgadis gave her a slightly reproachful look as Adara swept into a brief curtsy. "Princess, wherever you're going, may the best of luck go with you." Amelia nodded gratefully. "Now, Kimirah and I have business to attend to."

"Mother's taking me to visit my father," said Kimirah with a slightly smug look on her face. "I wonder what he'll think of my being a Seer. He's such a stubborn person when it comes to my future."

"Do you think he'll make you stay here, Kimirah-san?" asked Amelia curiously.

Kimirah shook her head firmly. "Of course not. Once he knows what I've learned from my training, I doubt he'll want me causing a…disturbance in the palace," she said with a mysterious air.

Adara laughed and gently took her daughter's arm, waving a fast goodbye to Amelia as the two of them headed down the opposite side of the hallway. Zelgadis shook his head and sighed. "This day could not get weirder."

Amelia shushed him quickly. "Don't say that Zelgadis-san, you'll jinx us!" She stifled a giggle. "And don't be so mean to Kimirah-san, she helped you!"

"Think what you will," answered Zelgadis darkly. "I still hope that never happens again." At that moment, he heard the annoying familiar voice laughing in his head. _Don't forget…you still owe me a considerable amount of money for the fountain, Zelgadis Greywords. _Thank L-Sama, he heard the strange clicking noise that signified the connection was broken, but he still fell over sideways from her ridiculous persistence. 

Amelia looked at him worriedly. "Zelgadis-san…?" She watched him stand up, muttering to himself. "…What?"

Recovering, he replied slowly, "Nothing…" However, he shook his head, as though trying to convince himself, and hoped he would never hear that blasé voice again.

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

Once outside, Amelia and Zelgadis stopped to catch their breath, but only for a moment, until Amelia let out a hurried breath and grabbed Zelgadis' arm again. "We have to keep moving, Zelgadis-san!"

"Amelia—" began Zelgadis, to protest the frequent yanking of his arms and to remind Amelia of her promise to stop calling him 'Zelgadis-san', but Amelia cut him off with a blunt, "Not now!" and sprinted down the street at top speed, turning the heads of the townspeople and merchants as they passed. 

The people merely shrugged and continued on with business as usual; it wasn't every day that they saw their crown princess drag a strange-looking young swordsman down the street at the speed of light, but then again, it was _many_ days that they saw a redheaded sorceress drag a strange-looking blonde swordsman _towards _the palace, so as far as they were concerned, what was the difference?

At last, they reached the outskirts of Seyruun, and Zelgadis managed to pull Amelia to a skidding stop outside the city entrance. "Amelia, this is getting ridiculous…what's going on?"

Amelia fiddled with her fingers, but her face was filled with relief. "Well…as you may have guessed…I don't want to stay in Seyruun."

Zelgadis glanced at the entrance gates, sweatdropping at the skid mark Amelia had made. "Yeah, I…gathered that."

"Really, I don't…it's not just all the royal duties I'd have to attend to, all those stupid seals and letters and papers…I really have missed being on the road with you all. And especially you, Zelgadis-san, because now that I know you care for me, I'd like to be with you whenever I can." She gave him a genuinely happy look. "And that's what I'm planning on doing."

Zelgadis was still puzzled. "Then what was that all about? The running and hurrying?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I almost forgot…you know how Lina-san wanted to 'discuss' something with me?" the princess said, emphasizing the "discuss".

"Yeah…what did she want?" asked Zelgadis slowly, completely knowing that what Lina had discussed, having made Amelia drag him out of Seyruun, it couldn't have been anything good.

"Well…um…it took a while to persuade me, but it was the only way…" Amelia smiled sheepishly, laughing a little, but still nervously. "She and I agreed…I would let her take her money from the treasury, and…she would create a diversion for us…to leave…" She handed Zelgadis an envelope. "She wrote this for you…."

Hesitantly, Zelgadis opened the letter and read the messily scrawled letter:

__

Dear Zel,

You're probably wondering what's going on right now, so I'll tell you, provided you don't yell at Amelia. Obviously, I need the money for—(hereLina had scratched out something, and from what followed, Zelgadis suspected that Lina wanted the money only for her own greedy pleasures)—_traveling purposes. Me and Amelia made an agreement: She'd let me have it, and I would give her a diversion. This way, I get what I want and you and Amelia can go off and do whatever gooey-eyed, romantic stuff you have planned—(_Zelgadis blushed profusely and shook his head_)—without any suspicion from the palace. They'll be too busy cleaning up. Anyway, I hope we see you around soon. Gourry and I are gonna look for a new and hopefully powerful enough sword for him as soon as we get done here. See you around._

Lina and Gourry

And then Zelgadis noticed a P.S. in very bold print:

__

P.S. – If you hurt Amelia in any way, shape, or form, I'll hunt you down and fill the rest of your days with misery. 

He folded the letter up with a somber look on his face, and stuffed it into his pocket. "Figures." Then he gave Amelia a scrupulous stare. "What exactly is she using as a…diversion?"

Before Amelia could open her mouth, both of them heard loud explosions coming from the middle of Seyruun, and Zelgadis clapped a hand against his face. "She's destroying half of Seyruun palace for her money…why am I not surprised…"

"I made her promise not to use the Dragon Slave," said Amelia tentatively, peering up at him as the steady row of explosions continued. "That way, no one will get hurt."

"…As though that helps…" Zelgadis sighed heavily and glanced back at Amelia. "Well, just so she doesn't do the same thing to us, let's get going."

"Great!" Amelia clapped her hand together. "So, where is the best place to look for a cure?"

Zelgadis' ears perked up. "Cure…? What are you…"

"Where _else _do you think we would go, Zelgadis-san?" Amelia planted her hands on her hips. "I certainly don't want you to forget what I told you…about how handsome you really are, but…I want you to be happy." With that, she folded her arms and gave him a firm look.

Then Zelgadis grinned—just a tiny little bit. "I already am." That made Amelia's smile grow even bigger, and Zelgadis began to walk down the road, looking back over his shoulder at her. "But that's a good idea. Let's go." Amelia nodded and ran to catch up with him.

…;::..;::*::;..::;…

It was much later that everything had really begun to sink into Zelgadis' mind, as he and Amelia walked silently down the road, unknowing of where they would turn up.

His thoughts wandered back to just that morning. The first morning he'd awaken to the knowledge that had changed his attitude. Had changed himself. That there was someone who could love him. Who _did_ love him. And he could really love someone. He _did_ love. What a bizarre month. Before now, he was heartless. Yet if someone could love him, if he could love someone and throw away all sense of self for that one person, for that one iota of love...he was no longer heartless.

Had he ever been?

No, he had only been cold and careless. Only focused on what was physical, what was important to those who were skin-deep. Never before had something been felt so strongly that it could hurt, excite, amuse, and satisfy all at one time, wrapped into one emotion...all inside of him.

__

Love.

So this was really it? What people had talked about in those songs and ridiculous poetry? They had all been so enraptured by this new feeling that it lead them to captivate their emotions into words by pen and paper? Funny, how it had seemed so stupid to him before. Alright, it still seemed stupid to write poetry about it, but at least now he could understand where they were coming from.

The cure was now a sidequest, but he would never be completely comfortable with his image. Hell, he was hoping to find a lead right now. There was no longer a vengeful want, or the tyrant he could be against everything that stood in his way. There was only need for human recognition; the acknowledgment from the people he met that he was not monstrous-looking. That would be something that could never really change.

But it could be helped. There was someone who could ease the loneliness...was it even there anymore? No, there was someone who could ease the pain. There was someone who could care. Someone who cared for him enough to awaken his own love to be returned. She would help him. And he would gladly die a thousand times over to keep her at his side.

And she would be there through anything, as long as she was at his side. As long as she was there.

Zelgadis glanced at Amelia; carefree, captivating, wonderful, beautiful...happy. Her unheeded hair bounced up and down as she walked. He had to smile; at least, half way. No chance in hell he would lose most of his sarcastic, careless manner, but he had taken all the new, knowing parts of himself and molded them together with the old. 

Amelia caught him looking at her and smiled, making him blush and turn away. She touched his shoulder briefly, forcing him to look again. He waited for her to say something, but she laughed shyly and walked on ahead, waiting for him to catch up.

__

As long as she was still at his side.

As long as she was there.

There was nothing that needed to be said. Their words could remain unspoken...yet...always...understood.

__

"Nunc scio quit sit amor."

Latin.

"Now I know what love is."

****

~ Virgil

__

End.

(Thank you so much for keeping up with me. ^^ It's FINALLY finished and I can go on to new fics, but first...thanks to all of the readers who didn't try to impale me with pointy objects when I took a hiatus here and there...meaning, every time I got lazy. Thanks to ALL the reviewers, and especially to Aisha C, DarkAngel-Ahria, and Alea Seikou for frequent reviewing. ^_^ You are very much appreciated. Now, go and read some more fics. Ja ne. ~Tams)


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